Table 1. Major Domains of Good Laboratory Practice (after Macleod et al., 2009).
Characteristic | Description of procedures |
---|---|
Sample size calculation | Group size was determined by sample size estimation for each experiment by SigmaStat
software, version 3.5 (ANOVA sample size, desired power = 0.8, α = 0.05). Effect sizes for estimation were derived from previous studies in our group. |
Inclusion and exclusion
criteria |
Animals which died prior to/during model induction were excluded from further study.
There were no exclusion criteria for the open field study; animals were excluded from c-Fos analysis if >90min elapsed between open field and perfusion, or if sections were badly damaged. |
Randomization | Animals were randomised to model group (naïve, VC, TC) by cage using a
pseudorandom ABCBCACAB labelling system. |
Allocation concealment | The person creating the model (i.e. instillation of turpentine or olive oil) was theoretically
unaware of the allocation to treatment group, but due to the pungent odour of turpentine, this was difficult to maintain. Procedures were still followed. This was achieved by the blinding procedure described below, as well as masking cage labels or turning around the cages before each behavioural assessment session. |
Reporting of animals
excluded from analysis |
All animals excluded are reported in Figure 1. |
Blinded measurement,
assessment, and analysis of outcome |
Codes were assigned to different treatments by an independent person and kept in a
sealed envelope. The codes were not broken until the analysis had been completed. The experimenter was blinded to the experimental group to which an animal was randomized. In addition, open field videos were renamed by an independent person before analysing, and immunohistochemistry sections were identified by animal not group code. |