Behavioral, pharmacological and molecular characterization of the saphenous nerve partial ligation: A new model of neuropathic pain
Section snippets
Experimental procedures
All procedures conformed to the Canadian Council on Animal Care guidelines and we received authorization from the animal ethics committee of the Université de Montréal. Care was taken to minimize the number of animals used and their suffering. The animals were housed two per cage with a bedding of wood sawdust (8–16 mm; Pro Chip, Canada) and maintained on 12-h light/dark cycle with free access to food (18.0% protein, 4.5% fat, 5.5% fiber, 7.0% ash, 2.5% added minerals; Charles River, Canada)
General observations
After surgery, no sign of autotomy or bodyweight loss was observed. The toes were not ventroflexed as is often seen with the sciatic nerve models. No motor impairment was observed following partial ligation of the saphenous nerve.
Sham and naive animals (control groups) behaved in the same way on the ipsi- and contralateral sides; there was no significant difference in each modality tested throughout the period of testing.
Cold allodynia
From the fifth day postsurgery to the end of the observation period,
Discussion
We have developed and characterized a new animal model of neuropathic pain targeted at the saphenous nerve. SPL produces typical symptoms of neuropathic pain such as allodynia and hyperalgesia. This model is easily and quickly performed and contrary to most sciatic nerve models, no muscle lesion is produced since the ligation is performed in the middle anterior part of the thigh, where the saphenous nerve is located just beneath the skin. Hence, this model corresponds to ethical guidelines from
Conclusion
The SPL is a new animal model of neuropathic pain which is easy to perform and which causes less animal discomfort than models using the sciatic nerve. Neuropathic behavior such as allodynia and hyperalgesia is present from the third to the fifth days and up to 1 month following nerve ligation. Overall, neuropathic animals respond well to standard analgesic drugs except for amitriptyline, at the doses used in this study. SPL increases the expression of MOR and cannabinoid CB1 and CB2 receptors
Acknowledgments
P.B. has received a start-up funding from the Research Center of the Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM) and holds a grant from the Fonds de la Recherche en Santé du Québec (FRSQ).
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