A pilot study on evaluation of pain and distress status of bullous keratopathy rabbit model / 中华实验眼科杂志

ABSTRACT

Background Identifying and testing of pain is very necessary for the care and decrease of the suffering of experimental animal in medical experiment.Effective method for testing the pain and distress status of experimental animal with eye disease is still absent in China.Objective This pilot study was to establish an evaluating system for assessing the pain and distress status of bullous keratopathy rabbit model.Methods This study was approved by the Ethic Committee of Beijing University First Hospital.Twelve healthy New Zealand rabbits were selected in this experiment.Bullous keratopathy model was established in the left eyes of 9 rabbits by scraping corneal endothelium as the experimental team,and other 3 rabbits were served as the control team.The cornea lesion was examined by manipulate slit lamp,and the central cornea thickness (CCT) was measured by ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM).Weight+20 Indexes For Pain and Distress Status Referring Guidelines for Pain and Distress in Laboratory Animals made by International Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) were assessed and measured as well.Results Corneal edema and opacity were obvious 1 day after surgery.Corneal bullous appeared from the third day after surgery,and cornea erosion was seen at the location of bullous breakage.The corneal lesions remained until 14 days after surgery.CCT value was (1468±100),(2313±588),(2391±271) and (2362±151) μm,respectively in day 1,3,7 and 14 after the establishment of models,which showed significant increase in comparison with the preoperative CCT (390±6)μm (all P=0.000).However,no significant difference was seen in the CCT between day 3,7 and 14 (P＞0.05).Body weight of the rabbits was (3.29±0.20),(3.20-0.17),(2.77±0.25) and (3.10±0.30)kg respectively in day 1,3,7 and 14 after operation,with significant decrease in comparison with the pre-operative weight (3.52-0.18)kg in the experimental team (P=0.008,0.007,0.003,0.004).The scores for pain and distress status of all rabbits in pre-operation of the experimental team and in the control team were zero,and the score was 7 (7,7),11 (10,12),9 (8,10),9 (9,9)in day 1,3,7 and 14 in the experimental team after surgery,with the highest score in day 3,which was bullous and bullous breakage duration.Seven of twenty indexes,including the reduce of diet and drinking,self-imposed isolation/hiding,grinding teeth,aggression,deceased movement,abnormal posture,vocalization occurred in the model animals after surgery.Conclusions Weight+20 Indexes For Pain and Distress Status is an effective,impersonal and quantitative method for observing and evaluating the pain and stress status in bullous keratopathy rabbit.