Dr. Margarete Arras

 

Main Goals, Keywords

Definition and monitoring of pain and stress in laboratory animals by telemetry systems and behavioural analyses

Group Members

1 group leader, 2 PhD students

Previous and Current Research

Pain can be thought of as having both sensory (discriminative) and affective (the "unpleasantness") dimensions, and is usually classified as "acute" or "chronic" depending on its duration and as "neuropathic" when it derives from direct damage to the nervous system. The clear definition of pain and stress in rodents is still a very contradictory topic. Currently there are only few reliable indicators to detect low and middle grade pain in the mouse. As the diagnosis of pain is the basis of effective analgesic treatment for mice used in biomedical research, the analgesic regimens currently used for mice often do not meet the needs of this species. We therefore work on the development of reliable and sensitive indicators of pain in laboratory mice.

Methods:

• Telemetric recordings of physiological parameters
• Long and short term observations of species typical behaviours in the home cage
• Analyses of activity and circadian rhythm
• Behavioural tests e.g. burrowing test
  
  
  

Future Projects

We will continue to analyze different pain models in order to refine our preliminary data and finally define which physiological and behavioural changes are linked to different levels of pain. Furthermore, we will use our pain indicators to test and adjust analgesic regimens for mice undergoing diverse experimental procedures.

Techniques and Equipment

Insulated behavioural observation unit, telemetry system, infrared sensitive recording station, automated animal tracking system, specialised behaviour analysis software, micro surgery theatre for small laboratory animals.

Selected Publications

• Jirkof, P., Cesarovic, N., Rettich, A., Nicholls, F., Seifert, B., Arras, M. Burrowing behavior as an indicator of post-laparotomy pain in mice. Front Behav Neurosci, 4:165 (2010).
• Cesarovic, N., Nicholls, F., Rettich, A., Kronen, P., Hässig, M., Jirkof, P., Arras, M. Isoflurane and sevoflurane provide equally effective anaesthesia in laboratory mice. Lab Anim, 44(4): 329-36 (2010).
• Arras, M., Rettich, A., Cinelli, P., Käsermann, H.P., Bürki K. Assessment of post-laparotomy pain in laboratory mice by telemetric recording of heart rate and heart rate variability. BMC Vet Res; 3:16 (2007).

Funding

BVET (Federal veterinary office, Switzerland); UBS foundation

URL

www.ltk.uzh.ch