Mild exercise suppresses exacerbation of dermatitis by increasing cleavage of the β-endorphin from proopiomelanocortin in NC/Nga mice

This study investigated the mechanism by which the strength and weakness of exercise stress affects the skin symptoms of atopic dermatitis (AD). Specific pathogen-free (SPF) and conventional NC/Nga mice were used. Conventional mice, but not the SPF, spontaneously develop dermal symptoms similar to that of patients with AD. There were two types of stress, mild (20 m/min for 60 min) or strong exercise (25 m/min for 90 min), using a treadmill four times per day. The symptom of the conventional group were strongly exacerbated by strong exercise but ameliorated by mild exercise. The plasma concentrations of α-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH) and the expression of melanocortin receptor-1 in skin elevated after strong exercise but decreased after mild exercise. The plasma levels of β-endorphin and the expression of µ-opioid receptor in skin were increased by mild exercise. In addition, the expression of prohormone convertase (PC) 1/3, PC2 and carboxypeptidase E (CPE) in pituitary gland were higher in the conventional group than in the SPF group. The level of PC2 was suppressed by mild exercise in the conventional groups, and elevated further by strong exercise. The level of PC1/3 becomes higher with the increase of the exercise load. On the other hand, the expression of the CPE was further increase by mild exercise but suppressed by strong exercise. These observations suggested that exercise-induced stress significantly affect the symptoms of AD in a pivotal manner depending on the levels of α-MSH and β-endorphin, and the expression of pituitary PC2 and CPE.