Tinnitus animal model modeling experiments

Summary

Tinnitus research also requires animal models, but previous tinnitus research has mostly been limited to humans, which has greatly restricted in-depth understanding of tinnitus mechanisms. It is impossible for animals to express their subjective sensations verbally, and humans and animals cannot communicate with each other verbally, so the only way to determine whether an animal feels tinnitus is by observing some kind of behavioral response or physiological reaction.

Principle

The basic principle of tinnitus animal modeling experiments is mostly the Pavlovian conditioned reflex principle. Salicylic acid can cause tinnitus and hearing loss, and this phenomenon is reversible, tinnitus disappears and hearing is restored after stopping the drug. Therefore, many scholars use salicylic acid as a drug for animal modeling.

Operation method

Tinnitus animal model modeling experiments

Principle

The basic principle of tinnitus animal modeling experiments is mostly the Pavlovian conditioned reflex principle. Salicylic acid can cause tinnitus and hearing loss, and this phenomenon is reversible, tinnitus disappears and hearing is restored after stopping the drug. Therefore, many scholars use salicylic acid as a drug for animal modeling.

Materials and Instruments

Equipment:
55 dB SPL white noise, automatic counters, etc.

Move

The basic process of tinnitus animal modeling experiments can be divided into the following steps:

A. At present, only guinea pigs and rats have been reported to establish animal models of tinnitus, and other animals have not been reported in the literature. In fact, dogs, cats, mice, etc. are also able to be used as experimental animals. Animals that are particularly prone to panic are not suitable for behavioral experiments.

B. Conditioned reflex training was performed in a separate acoustically isolated room, and each animal was trained once a day for 30 minutes. The conditioned stimulus was a random stop of the background sound (55 dB SPL white noise), which was presented 5 times for 30 s each, around the 3rd, 9th, 17th, 24th, and 29th minute. The unconditioned stimulus was an electric shock, 1.5 mA for 0.5 s, given once at the 9th, 18th, or 27th second of the conditioned stimulus.

C. During training, the animals were supplied with water at a rate of 7 to 10 drops/minute in a volume of 15 to 20 mL, and the number of times the water was sucked was recorded with an automatic counter. The number of water intake when the conditioned stimulus appeared was B, and the average number of water intake every 30 seconds when the conditioned stimulus did not appear was A. The rate of water intake R = B/(A + B).

D. Training is divided into 3 stages ① adaptation training period: the purpose is to let the animal adapt to the conditioned stimulus and continue to absorb water, the absorption rate should be equal to or close to 0.5, the number of times the animal absorbs water is generally 6000 to 8000 times, and if it is less than 350 times, then it will be eliminated; ② Conditioned reflex training period: when the conditioned stimulus appears to give an electric shock, the animal reduces or stops absorbing water due to the fear of the electric shock, and the absorption rate should be equal to or close to 0; After 2 to 3 days of intensive training. After 2-3 days of intensive training, the animals established the conditioned reflex of "background noise stops - water absorption rate decreases or stops"; (3) Conditioned reflex elimination period: the animals were no longer given electric shocks when the conditioned stimulus appeared, and the elimination or amnesia time of the conditioned reflex was observed, and the water absorption rate was gradually restored to 0.5

E. Then sodium salicylate was injected subcutaneously in a dosage of 250 mg/kg or 350 mg/kg, and the tinnitus (Fig. 9-13) was induced in

the rat.

Tinnitus was then induced in rats by subcutaneous injection of sodium salicylate at a dose of 250 mg/kg or 350 mg/kg (Figure 9-13-15, Figure 9-13-16 and Figure 9-13-17).

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