Caitlin Thompson
Pronouns: She/her
Research Mentor(s): Emily Jutkiewicz
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Pharmacology / Medicine
Program:
Authors: Caitlin Thompson, Christopher Babcock, Emily Jutkiewicz
Session: Session 2: 10:00 am – 10:50 am
Poster: 55
Abstract
In people, ongoing pain limits normal activities, such as exercise and work. It’s important to evaluate pain-depressed behavior to improve treatments for pain. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of the inflammatory agent, carrageenan (3% solution, 20 µL), and known analgesics, such as fentanyl (0.3 mg/kg, i.p.) on wheel running behavior in mice. Single-housed, female and male C57BL/6N mice were given access to a running wheel in their home cages during the dark cycle from 7 pm to 7 am. Wheel rotations recorded prior to and after bilateral intraplantar injections of carrageenan with or without fentanyl (N=8 mice per condition). We found that carrageenan decreased wheel running behavior for 6 hours as compared with intraplantar saline injections. This dose of fentanyl did not seem to affect wheel running behavior in either the vehicle or carrageenan treated mice. While fentanyl is known to reduce acute pain and sensitivity, it does not appear to be effective in restoring carrageenan-induced suppression of wheel running behavior in mice; however, further testing needs to be completed with a larger range of fentanyl doses. This assay may help us evaluate novel treatments for restoring pain-induced suppression of daily activity.
