title: The postnatal development of tail-flick latencies to acute and repeated stimulation in the rat.
abstract: The development of the reaction to thermal nociceptive stimulation was studied in neonatal rats of two strains (albino Wistar and pigmented Long-Evans). Using the tail-flick method in neonates of both strains the effects of daily repeated thermal stimulation (sensitisation) were compared to those of acute stimulation applied on 1 day only. During the whole postnatal development period studied (3-28 days) the pigmented rat pups were more sensitive to a repeated thermal nociceptive stimulation than the albinos. The latency of the response did not change linearly during the developmental time studied, but had a pronounced peak (decreased sensitivity) in the period of eye-lid opening. In the pigmented animals the peak appeared 1 day earlier than in the albinos. At the time of the weaning period the latencies of the response were again shorter.
authors.affiliation: Department of Normal, Pathological and Clinical Physiology, Charles University, 3rd Faculty of Medicine, Ke Karlovu 4, Praha 2, 120 00 Prague, Czech Republic. jarmila.mysliveckova@lf3.cuni.cz
authors.forename: Jarmila
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hassmannová
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rokyta
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D005260:Female; D006358:Hot Temperature; D008297:Male; D009619:Nociceptors / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology*; D017288:Pain Threshold / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013045:Species Specificity; D013623:Tail