TY - JOUR
T1 - Understanding nociception-related phenotypes in adult zebrafish
T2 - Behavioral and pharmacological characterization using a new acetic acid model
AU - Costa, Fabiano V.
AU - Rosa, Luiz V.
AU - Quadros, Vanessa A.
AU - Santos, Adair R.S.
AU - Kalueff, Allan V.
AU - Rosemberg, Denis B.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2019/2/1
Y1 - 2019/2/1
N2 - Pain, a severely debilitating symptom of many human disorders, is a growing, unmet biomedical problem. Although the use of zebrafish (Danio rerio) to investigate both behavioral and physiological nociception-related responses is expanding rapidly, the characterization of behavioral phenotypes that reflect injury location is limited, making the results of such studies difficult to interpret. Here, we characterize putative nociception-related behavioral phenotypes in adult zebrafish following an intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of acetic acid, a well-established protocol for visceral pain in rodents. Acetic acid (2.5 and 5.0%) induced an abdominal constriction-like response, which was assessed by measuring a body curvature index. Moreover, all doses tested (0.5–5.0%) reduced distance traveled and vertical activity in the novel tank test. Freezing duration increased following 5.0% acetic acid, whereas fish injected with 1.0, 2.5, and 5.0% spent more time in top area of the tank. Both morphine (an opioid analgesic) and diclofenac (a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, NSAID) prevented the 5.0% acetic acid-induced changes in body curvature index, whereas naloxone blocked these effects of morphine. Overall, zebrafish exposed to a single acetic acid i.p. injection display abnormal body curvature and specific changes in behavioral parameters sensitive to anti-nociceptive pharmacological modulation. We suggest that the abdominal constriction-like response represents a novel specific nociceptive-related phenotype in zebrafish. In general, our findings support the growing utility of zebrafish in translational pain research and antinociceptive drug discovery.
AB - Pain, a severely debilitating symptom of many human disorders, is a growing, unmet biomedical problem. Although the use of zebrafish (Danio rerio) to investigate both behavioral and physiological nociception-related responses is expanding rapidly, the characterization of behavioral phenotypes that reflect injury location is limited, making the results of such studies difficult to interpret. Here, we characterize putative nociception-related behavioral phenotypes in adult zebrafish following an intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of acetic acid, a well-established protocol for visceral pain in rodents. Acetic acid (2.5 and 5.0%) induced an abdominal constriction-like response, which was assessed by measuring a body curvature index. Moreover, all doses tested (0.5–5.0%) reduced distance traveled and vertical activity in the novel tank test. Freezing duration increased following 5.0% acetic acid, whereas fish injected with 1.0, 2.5, and 5.0% spent more time in top area of the tank. Both morphine (an opioid analgesic) and diclofenac (a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, NSAID) prevented the 5.0% acetic acid-induced changes in body curvature index, whereas naloxone blocked these effects of morphine. Overall, zebrafish exposed to a single acetic acid i.p. injection display abnormal body curvature and specific changes in behavioral parameters sensitive to anti-nociceptive pharmacological modulation. We suggest that the abdominal constriction-like response represents a novel specific nociceptive-related phenotype in zebrafish. In general, our findings support the growing utility of zebrafish in translational pain research and antinociceptive drug discovery.
KW - Acetic acid
KW - Behavioral responses
KW - Body curvature index
KW - Nociception
KW - Zebrafish
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85055508655&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.bbr.2018.10.009
DO - 10.1016/j.bbr.2018.10.009
M3 - Article
C2 - 30296529
AN - SCOPUS:85055508655
SN - 0166-4328
VL - 359
SP - 570
EP - 578
JO - Behavioural Brain Research
JF - Behavioural Brain Research
ER -