The analgesic effects of pioglitazone in the bone cancer pain rats via regulating the PPARγ/PTEN/mTOR signaling pathway in the spinal dorsal horn

•PTEN increases and p-mTOR decreases in the spinal cord of bone cancer pain rats.•Upregulation of spinal PTEN attenuates bone cancer pain via downregulating p-mTOR.•Intrathecal pioglitazone administration alleviates the bone cancer pain of rats.•Pioglitazone increases spinal PPARγ, PTEN and reduces p-mTOR of bone cancer pain rats.•Pioglitazone relieves bone cancer pain by regulating spinal PPARγ/PTEN/mTOR signaling.