how?

[QuadPro]

How do researchers know if one of the rats they are using actually have neuropathic pain and how bad is it?

Plus how do they know if the meds they give them are working?

[metronycguy]

they have a chart written in ratbonia with the words HOW IS YOUR PAIN NOW and the numbers 1 to 10 on it and they.......... http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

[Wise Young]

Quad and metro,

Rats issue a high-frequency squeak when they feel pain (or fright). Many rats develop what is called "allodynia" or painful sensations resulting from light mechanical touch. This is tested by poking the rat with a fine plastic fiber (called a Von Frey hair) with a known tensile strength. If the rat squeaks when poked with a Von Frey hair, the rat is judged to have allodynia, one of the manifestations of neuropathic pain.

Another way is to test how fast rats move their tail off a hotpad, suggesting increased sensitivity to heat. This is a modification of the classic test of pain/heat sensitivity which assesses the latency (time it takes the rat to move the tail) of the tailflick. Analgesics (medications that reduce pain responses) are assessed by this test, i.e. analgesics increases the tail flick latency. But this is more a test of noxious pain and also depends on motor response, than a test of neuropathic pain.

Wise.

[metronycguy]

thanks dr young! for the real answer http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif