Source Paper
Methods Used to Evaluate Pain Behaviors in Rodents
Jennifer R. Deuis, Lucie S. Dvorakova, Irina Vetter
Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience • 2017
View Abstract
Rodents are commonly used to study the pathophysiological mechanisms of pain as studies in humans may be difficult to perform and ethically limited. As pain cannot be directly measured in rodents, many methods that quantify "pain-like" behaviors or nociception have been developed. These behavioral methods can be divided into stimulus-evoked or non-stimulus evoked (spontaneous) nociception, based on whether or not application of an external stimulus is used to elicit a withdrawal response. Stimulus-evoked methods, which include manual and electronic von Frey, Randall-Selitto and the Hargreaves test, were the first to be developed and continue to be in widespread use. However, concerns over the clinical translatability of stimulus-evoked nociception in recent years has led to the development and increasing implementation of non-stimulus evoked methods, such as grimace scales, burrowing, weight bearing and gait analysis. This review article provides an overview, as well as discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of the most commonly used behavioral methods of stimulus-evoked and non-stimulus-evoked nociception used in rodents.
Weight Bearing Test
Objective: Evaluation of spontaneous pain-like behaviors through measurement of weight distribution and bearing capacity in rodents
This is a Weight Bearing Test protocol using Not specified in extracted text as the model organism. The procedure involves 2 procedural steps, 1 equipment items. Extracted from a 2017 paper published in Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience.
Model and subjects
Not specified in extracted text • Not specified in extracted text • unknown • Not specified in extracted text • Not specified in extracted text
Study window
Estimated timing pending
Core workflow
Animal placement and acclimation • Measure weight distribution
Primary readouts
- Weight distribution between limbs
- Weight bearing capacity
- Spontaneous pain-like behaviors inferred from weight bearing patterns
Key equipment and reagents
Verified items
0
Direct vendor links
0
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Protocol Steps
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Animal placement and acclimation
Place rodent in weight bearing test apparatus for measurement of spontaneous weight distribution
Note: This is a non-stimulus evoked method for assessing spontaneous pain-like behaviors
View evidence from paper
“non-stimulus evoked methods, such as grimace scales, burrowing, weight bearing and gait analysis”
Measure weight distribution
Record weight bearing capacity and distribution patterns as indicators of pain-like behaviors
Note: Weight bearing assessment evaluates spontaneous pain through measurement of weight distribution rather than stimulus-evoked responses
View evidence from paper
“Evaluation of spontaneous pain-like behaviors through measurement of weight distribution and bearing capacity”