Oct 16, 2024
Thermal hyperalgesia test in adult rodents
- Amirah Wright1,
- Susan Murphy1,
- Pamela VandeVord1,2
- 1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA;
- 2Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Salem, VA
- PRECISE-TBI
Protocol Citation: Amirah Wright, Susan Murphy, Pamela VandeVord 2024. Thermal hyperalgesia test in adult rodents. protocols.io https://dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.rm7vzjdw5lx1/v1
License: This is an open access protocol distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Protocol status: Working
We use this protocol and it's working
Created: September 24, 2024
Last Modified: October 16, 2024
Protocol Integer ID: 108274
Keywords: PRECISE-TBI, Traumatic Brain Injury, TBI, pain, rat, thermal, hyperalgesia
Disclaimer
NA
Abstract
This is a protocol to describe the materials and methods utilized to perform thermal hyperalgesia in adult rats. The model utilizes an electronic hot/cold plate on which an animal is placed. The test uses an exponential method to change the temperature within the user-defined parameters.
The posting of this protocol is part of the mission of the PREClinical Interagency reSearch resourcE-TBI (PRECISE-TBI, precise-tbi.org) to improve clinical translation of therapeutics by providing an online catalog and standardized protocols to reduce the variability of model usage between laboratories.
Materials
Ugo Basile Hot/Cold Plate [RRID: SCR_025647]
Plug the device in. Turn on the device using the Power Module on the back of the device
To set up an experiment, click on “Setup”
Click on Ramp Exponential and input temperature parameters based on which test you’re conducting.
a. Cold: 25 to 0 degrees Celsius
b. Hot: 25 to 50 degrees Celsius
Once the parameters have been set, go back to the home menu and click on the “Start” button
Click on “Reach.” This allows the plate to reach the initial temperature. The temperature monitor will turn green when it has reached the preset initial temperature.
Place the animal in the apparatus with its feet down, then place the lid on.
Let the animal acclimate to the apparatus for 1 minute.
Click the “Start” button. (See: Note 1)
When you have observed a response, click the “Stop” button. (See: Note 2 and 3)
Take the animal out of the tube, place them back into their cage, and then clean the plate surface and detachable wall. (See: Note 4)
After all trials are completed, go back to the home screen and click on “Results.” This will show you all the collected data. Each trial will have two sets of data, so check and make sure that each one shows up in the results.
Notes
Notes
Note 1: There is an optional foot pedal that can be used to “Start” and “Stop” the experiment
Note 2: Responses to look for include: paw licking, jumping, lifting of hind paw, vocalization, shivering
Note 3: Pay attention to the timer on the screen to make sure the experiment has actually stopped when you click “Stop”
Note 4: Clean before and after every experiment trial