Nociception
Nociception is the detection of painful stimuli. Pain perception follows the transmission of nociceptive signals through the peripheral and central nervous system. Acute pain generally resolves with the healing of tissue or nerve damage, whereas chronic pain is pathological and is driven by plastic changes in the nervous system . In rodent models of acute and chronic pain, we can measure pain and sensory function using behaviour assays, in vivo electrophysiology and in vitro methods.
FEATURED DISEASE MODELS:
Post-surgical pain
Hind paw incision, or the Brennan model, produces robust mechanical and thermal hypersensitivity and mimics pain experienced after surgical interventions.
Osteoarthritis
Medial ligament injury (MLI) of the knee joint is a surgically-induced model of post-traumatic osteoarthritis. This leads to progressive cartilage degeneration and pain.
Inflammatory pain
Local administration of inflammatory compounds, e.g. Complete Freund’s Adjuvant (CFA) and carrageenan, can lead to oedema and neuronal hypersensitivity. Intra-articular administration of inflammatory compounds can mimic joint diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.
Hyperalgesic priming
Hyperalgesic priming is a key concept in pain plasticity. These models mimic the transition from acute to chronic pain by using a priming stimulus to produce an acute pain episode, followed by a single/multiple noxious events to trigger latent hypersensitivity.
