title: Silver nitrate cauterization: characterization of a new model of corneal inflammation and hyperalgesia in rat.
abstract: Chemical cauterization of the central cornea with silver nitrate was assessed as a superficial injury model of tissue sensitization accompanying acute inflammation. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were anesthetized with halothane gas, and the centers of their right corneas treated with a silver nitrate applicator stick (75% silver nitrate, 25% potassium nitrate) to produce a discrete lesion 1 mm in diameter. Edema of the corneal stroma and elevated immune cell counts became significant 4 h after cauterization, and were still evident after 48 h. Behavioral sensitization to chemical stimuli was determined by counting the number of blinks following application of 1 microM capsaicin directly to the corneal surface. A significant increase in stimulus-induced blinking was evident 2 h after cauterization. Chemical sensitization peaked at 6 h, and was no longer significant at 12 h. We conclude that silver nitrate cauterization produces acute corneal inflammation and hyperalgesia, and may prove a useful model for the study of primary afferent nociceptors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, 6-145 Jackson Hall, 312 Church Street, Minneapolis, MN 55455-0329, USA.
authors.forename: N H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Wenk
authors.forename: N C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Honda
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002425:Cautery / Q000379:methods*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006930:Hyperalgesia / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D007634:Keratitis / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012835:Silver Nitrate / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D012835:Silver Nitrate