Quantitative assessment of the nociceptive withdrawal reflex in healthy, non-medicated experimental sheep

- The nociceptive withdrawal reflex (NWR) is used as a tool to evaluate nociception.
- The NWR model is based on the use of an electrical stimulus to evoke a nociceptive reflex.
- The NWR is quantified by electromyogram and subjective score for the behaviour.
- Intensities necessary to evoke a NWR vary among animals and are muscle-specific.

This study aimed to characterize the nociceptive withdrawal reflex (NWR) and to define the nociceptive threshold in 25 healthy, non-medicated experimental sheep in standing posture. Electrical stimulation of the dorsal lateral digital nerves of the right thoracic and the pelvic limb was performed and surface-electromyography (EMG) from the deltoid (all animals) and the femoral biceps (18 animals) or the peroneus tertius muscles (7 animals) was recorded. The behavioural reaction following each stimulation was scored on a scale from 0 (no reaction) to 5 (strong whole body reaction). A train-of-five 1 ms constant-current pulse was used and current intensity was stepwise increased until NWR threshold intensity was reached. The NWR threshold intensity (It) was defined as the minimal stimulus intensity able to evoke a reflex with a minimal Root-Mean-Square amplitude (RMSA) of 20 μV, a minimal duration of 10 ms and a minimal reaction score of 1 (slight muscle contraction of the stimulated limb) within the time window of 20 to 130 ms post-stimulation. Based on this value, further stimulations were performed below (0.9It) and above threshold (1.5It and 2It). The stimulus-response curve was described. Data are reported as medians and interquartile ranges.At the deltoid muscle It was 4.4 mA (2.9-5.7) with an RMSA of 62 μV (30-102). At the biceps femoris muscle It was 7.0 mA (4.0-10.0) with an RMSA of 43 μV (34-50) and at the peroneus tertius muscle It was 3.4 mA (3.1-4.4) with an RMSA of 38 μV (32-46). Above threshold, RMSA was significantly increased at all muscles. Below threshold, RMSA was only significantly smaller than at It for the peroneus tertius muscle but not for the other muscles.Data achieved in this study serve as reference for experimental or clinical applications of the conscious sheep model.