title: A New Animal Model of Brachial Plexus Neuralgia Produced by Injection of Cobra Venom into the Lower Trunk in the Rat.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To establish a new animal model for the study of neuropathic pain developed by administration of cobra venom to the brachial plexus (BP) lower trunk.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-eight adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 5 groups. Under pentobarbital sodium anesthesia, cobra venom was injected into the lower trunk or sham operation was performed in the animals. On postoperative day 1 and day 12, pregabalin was administered intragastricly at 30 mg/kg in two groups. Mechanical withdrawal thresholds (MWT) were tested with von Frey filaments. Video recordings were used to analyze the spontaneous behaviors. Meanwhile, our model was confirmed by observing ultrastructural alterations of the BP and cervical cord (C8-T1) via electron microscope examination.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In comparison to the blank and sham-operated group, cobra venom-treated rats showed a profound decrease in the MWT, exploratory and increase in grooming behaviors (P<0.05). The changes were long-lasting (up to 60 days), in both ipsilateral and contralateral paws. Furthermore, it was observed under microscopic examination that the myelin sheath was demyelinated in the BP and cervical cord (C8-T1) after injection of cobra venom to the lower trunk. Pregabalin group rats showed changes in MWT and spontaneous behaviors after pregabalin treatment at postoperative day 1 (P>0.05), compared with the control and sham-operated groups. In pregabalin test POD12 group, the decreased MWT and the increased grooming behavior were improved at 20 days after operation. However, pregabalin had no effect on exploratory activity. Results indicate that pregabalin effectively attenuates mechanical hyperalgesia in acute period.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The cobra venom model can be used as a model to induce neuropathic pain and to enable study of the mechanism and treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Weifang Medical University, Weifang City, Shandong Province, 261000, China.|Department of Anesthesiology, Pain Medicine and Critical Care Medicine, Aviation General Hospital of China Medical University and Beijing Institute of Translational Medicine, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beiyuan Rd 3#, Beijing, 100012, China.
authors.forename: CaiCai
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Pain Medicine and Critical Care Medicine, Aviation General Hospital of China Medical University and Beijing Institute of Translational Medicine, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beiyuan Rd 3#, Beijing, 100012, China.
authors.forename: XiaoYan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Weifang Medical University, Weifang City, Shandong Province, 261000, China.|Department of Anesthesiology, Pain Medicine and Critical Care Medicine, Aviation General Hospital of China Medical University and Beijing Institute of Translational Medicine, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beiyuan Rd 3#, Beijing, 100012, China.
authors.forename: A N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: JianXiong
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Pain Medicine and Critical Care Medicine, Aviation General Hospital of China Medical University and Beijing Institute of Translational Medicine, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beiyuan Rd 3#, Beijing, 100012, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Pain Medicine and Critical Care Medicine, Aviation General Hospital of China Medical University and Beijing Institute of Translational Medicine, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beiyuan Rd 3#, Beijing, 100012, China.
authors.forename: QiWu
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Pain Medicine and Critical Care Medicine, Aviation General Hospital of China Medical University and Beijing Institute of Translational Medicine, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beiyuan Rd 3#, Beijing, 100012, China.
authors.forename: YiDe
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA.
authors.forename: Doris K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Cope
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA.
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020516:Brachial Plexus Neuropathies / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004546:Elapid Venoms / Q000633:toxicity*; D006930:Hyperalgesia / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D009437:Neuralgia / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D004546:Elapid Venoms
keywords: Brachial Plexus Animal Model; Mechanical Hyperalgesia; Neuropathic Pain; Pregabalin; Ultrastructural Alterations; Video Recordings