Figure 3.

Activity of clinically used analgesic compounds in a mouse model of burn-induced pain. (a) Oxycodone (3 and 10 mg/kg), meloxicam, gabapentin and amitriptyline partially but significantly alleviated mechanical allodynia as assessed by electronic von Frey. (b) Only oxycodone (10 mg/kg) and amitriptyline significantly reversed thermal allodynia assessed by the Hargreaves method. (c) Oxycodone (10 mg/kg) and amitriptyline led to a significant increase in weight bearing of the ipsilateral hind paw, measured using the “Mean Intensity of the 15 most intense pixels” parameter in the Catwalk XT. (d) Only gabapentin (100 mg/kg) had a significant effect on motor impairment, significantly increasing the ataxia index compared to vehicle control. The same mice were used for each of the behavioural tests. Statistical significance was determined using t-test. *P < 0.05 compared to vehicle control. Dotted lines represent the mean value for the contralateral paw. All data are represented as mean ± SEM with 5–17 mice per group.