Morgan L Crowley, Luis F Restrepo, Lea R Gamez-Jimenez, Avi Patel, Tobias Braun, Victoria L C Pallares, Nicholas P Ho, Christopher R McCurdy, Lance R McMahon, Takato Hiranita
INTRODUCTION: Whole-body plethysmography (WBP) in unrestrained, non-anesthetized rodents is a preclinical method to assess the respiratory depressant effects of opioids, the leading cause of opioid overdose death in humans. However, low baseline respiration rates under normocapnic conditions (i.e., "floor" effect) can render the measurement of respiratory decreases challenging. We assessed hypercapnia-induced increases in respiration as a strategy to assess opioid-induced decreases in respiration in rats...
July 6, 2021: Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods