Characterization of alterations in spontaneous behaviors in a rat model of neuropathic pain - new outcome measures for pain evaluation?
Chronic pain affects all life domains including social interaction and responding. The aim of this study was to track spontaneous behaviors in an experimental chronic pain model to uncover alternative pain indicators in a socially and physically enriched home-cage setting. The spared nerve injury (S...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
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| author | Annamária Liptáková Annamária Liptáková Annamária Liptáková Annamária Liptáková Annamária Liptáková M. J. Castelhano-Carlos M. J. Castelhano-Carlos Juliana Fiúza-Fernandes Juliana Fiúza-Fernandes Nuno Sousa Nuno Sousa Michelle Roche Michelle Roche Michelle Roche David P. Finn David P. Finn David P. Finn Hugo Leite-Almeida Hugo Leite-Almeida |
| author_facet | Annamária Liptáková Annamária Liptáková Annamária Liptáková Annamária Liptáková Annamária Liptáková M. J. Castelhano-Carlos M. J. Castelhano-Carlos Juliana Fiúza-Fernandes Juliana Fiúza-Fernandes Nuno Sousa Nuno Sousa Michelle Roche Michelle Roche Michelle Roche David P. Finn David P. Finn David P. Finn Hugo Leite-Almeida Hugo Leite-Almeida |
| author_sort | Annamária Liptáková |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Chronic pain affects all life domains including social interaction and responding. The aim of this study was to track spontaneous behaviors in an experimental chronic pain model to uncover alternative pain indicators in a socially and physically enriched home-cage setting. The spared nerve injury (SNI) was used to model neuropathic pain in Wistar Han male and female rats housed in the PhenoWorld (PhW). Spontaneous behavior of animals was recorded in their home cages once a week following SNI during both the dark and light phases of the light-dark cycle using focal sampling in order to assess alterations induced by neuropathic pain. Males and females with SNI demonstrated significantly lower threshold to von Frey test (VF) in the ipsilateral hind paws compared to sham controls. SNI significantly increased huddling time in both males and females during light and dark phases. Males showed increased grooming and play fighting during the dark phase compared to females while during the light phase females huddled significantly more than males. No significant effects were observed on other behaviors analyzed. This study showed that peripheral nerve injury has an impact on spontaneous behavior, specifically on huddling. This finding provides new perspective into pain evaluation and suggests the possibility of considering spontaneous behavior as an additional method of assessing pain-related behavior in rodents. To bridge the current gap between basic research and development of novel analgesics, there is a need to develop non-evoked behavioral assays to investigate changes in animal wellbeing and spontaneous pain. Our findings raise the possibility of discovering new outcome measures, however, additional study to reverse these behaviors with analgesics should be conducted. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-df5346a2e37746a984e4fb2f70e2ce1b |
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| issn | 1662-5153 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
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| series | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj-art-df5346a2e37746a984e4fb2f70e2ce1b2025-08-20T02:30:28ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience1662-51532025-06-011910.3389/fnbeh.2025.15504761550476Characterization of alterations in spontaneous behaviors in a rat model of neuropathic pain - new outcome measures for pain evaluation?Annamária Liptáková0Annamária Liptáková1Annamária Liptáková2Annamária Liptáková3Annamária Liptáková4M. J. Castelhano-Carlos5M. J. Castelhano-Carlos6Juliana Fiúza-Fernandes7Juliana Fiúza-Fernandes8Nuno Sousa9Nuno Sousa10Michelle Roche11Michelle Roche12Michelle Roche13David P. Finn14David P. Finn15David P. Finn16Hugo Leite-Almeida17Hugo Leite-Almeida18Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho, Braga, PortugalICVS/3B’s - PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga/Guimarães, PortugalPharmacology and Therapeutics, School of Medicine, University of Galway, Galway, IrelandGalway Neuroscience Centre, University of Galway, Galway, IrelandGalway Neuroscience Centre, University of Galway, Galway, IrelandLife and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho, Braga, PortugalICVS/3B’s - PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga/Guimarães, PortugalLife and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho, Braga, PortugalICVS/3B’s - PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga/Guimarães, PortugalCentro Universitário da Jaguariúna (UniFAJ), São Paulo, BrazilCentro Universitário Max-Planck (UniMAX), São Paulo, BrazilGalway Neuroscience Centre, University of Galway, Galway, IrelandCentre for Pain Research, University of Galway, Galway, IrelandPhysiology, School of Medicine, University of Galway, Galway, IrelandPharmacology and Therapeutics, School of Medicine, University of Galway, Galway, IrelandGalway Neuroscience Centre, University of Galway, Galway, IrelandCentre for Pain Research, University of Galway, Galway, IrelandLife and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho, Braga, PortugalICVS/3B’s - PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga/Guimarães, PortugalChronic pain affects all life domains including social interaction and responding. The aim of this study was to track spontaneous behaviors in an experimental chronic pain model to uncover alternative pain indicators in a socially and physically enriched home-cage setting. The spared nerve injury (SNI) was used to model neuropathic pain in Wistar Han male and female rats housed in the PhenoWorld (PhW). Spontaneous behavior of animals was recorded in their home cages once a week following SNI during both the dark and light phases of the light-dark cycle using focal sampling in order to assess alterations induced by neuropathic pain. Males and females with SNI demonstrated significantly lower threshold to von Frey test (VF) in the ipsilateral hind paws compared to sham controls. SNI significantly increased huddling time in both males and females during light and dark phases. Males showed increased grooming and play fighting during the dark phase compared to females while during the light phase females huddled significantly more than males. No significant effects were observed on other behaviors analyzed. This study showed that peripheral nerve injury has an impact on spontaneous behavior, specifically on huddling. This finding provides new perspective into pain evaluation and suggests the possibility of considering spontaneous behavior as an additional method of assessing pain-related behavior in rodents. To bridge the current gap between basic research and development of novel analgesics, there is a need to develop non-evoked behavioral assays to investigate changes in animal wellbeing and spontaneous pain. Our findings raise the possibility of discovering new outcome measures, however, additional study to reverse these behaviors with analgesics should be conducted.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2025.1550476/fullchronic painPhenoWorldhome-cage behaviorspontaneous behaviorethologysex differences |
| spellingShingle | Annamária Liptáková Annamária Liptáková Annamária Liptáková Annamária Liptáková Annamária Liptáková M. J. Castelhano-Carlos M. J. Castelhano-Carlos Juliana Fiúza-Fernandes Juliana Fiúza-Fernandes Nuno Sousa Nuno Sousa Michelle Roche Michelle Roche Michelle Roche David P. Finn David P. Finn David P. Finn Hugo Leite-Almeida Hugo Leite-Almeida Characterization of alterations in spontaneous behaviors in a rat model of neuropathic pain - new outcome measures for pain evaluation? Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience chronic pain PhenoWorld home-cage behavior spontaneous behavior ethology sex differences |
| title | Characterization of alterations in spontaneous behaviors in a rat model of neuropathic pain - new outcome measures for pain evaluation? |
| title_full | Characterization of alterations in spontaneous behaviors in a rat model of neuropathic pain - new outcome measures for pain evaluation? |
| title_fullStr | Characterization of alterations in spontaneous behaviors in a rat model of neuropathic pain - new outcome measures for pain evaluation? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Characterization of alterations in spontaneous behaviors in a rat model of neuropathic pain - new outcome measures for pain evaluation? |
| title_short | Characterization of alterations in spontaneous behaviors in a rat model of neuropathic pain - new outcome measures for pain evaluation? |
| title_sort | characterization of alterations in spontaneous behaviors in a rat model of neuropathic pain new outcome measures for pain evaluation |
| topic | chronic pain PhenoWorld home-cage behavior spontaneous behavior ethology sex differences |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2025.1550476/full |
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