Assessment of allodynia and hyperalgesia after cisplatin administration torats

This work describes the behavioural responses of Sprague-Dawley rats to mec hanical or thermal stimuli during and after administration of ten intraperi toneal injections of, alternatively, 1 and 2 mg/kg cisplatin every three da ys (cumulative dose: 15 mg/kg). Nociceptive signs including mechanical allo dynia and hyperalgesia appeared after 3 and 6 cisplatin injections, respect ively, and were maintained until 15 days after the last injection. The cons ervation of a good clinical status and fast appearance of symptoms are favo urable criteria for using this animal model to understand the pathophysiolo gical mechanisms implicated in the cisplatin-induced sensory peripheral neu ropathy. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.