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. 2014 Jan;6(1):43-7.
doi: 10.4103/0975-7406.124316.

Thermal latency studies in opiate-treated mice

Noam Schildhaus  1 , Eliana Trink  1 , Chirs Polson  1 , Louis Detolla  2 , Betty M Tyler  1 , George I Jallo  1 , Sino Tok  1 , Michael Guarnieri  1
Affiliations

Thermal latency studies in opiate-treated mice

Noam Schildhaus et al. J Pharm Bioallied Sci. 2014 Jan.

Abstract

Background: The change in the reaction time of a tail or paw exposed to a thermal stimulus is a measure of nociceptive activity in laboratory animals. Tail-flick and plantar thermal sensitivity (Hargreaves) tests are non-invasive, minimize stress, and can be used to screen animals for phenotype and drug activity.

Objective: Hargreaves testing has been widely used in rats. We investigated its use to measure the activity of opiate analgesia in mice.

Methods: Mice were used in thermal stimulus studies at 1-5 hours and 1-5 days to test acute and extended release preparations of buprenorphine.

Results: Hargreaves testing had limited value at 1-5 hours because mice can have an obtunded response to opiate therapy. Tail-flick studies with restrained mice are not affected by the initial locomotor stimulation.

Discussion: The present report describes a simple restraint system for mice. The utility of the system is demonstrated by examining the efficacy of acute and extended release buprenorphine injections in Balb/c and Swiss mice.

Conclusion: Standardized tail-flick testing provides a sensitive robust method to monitor opiate activity in mice.

Keywords: Analgesia; Hargreaves test; buprenorphine; extended release; mouse; thermal latency test.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Warm water heat tests were performed at 20, 40, and 60 min intervals post dose
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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