Assessment of Allodynia Relief by Tissue-Protective Molecules in a Rat Model of Nerve Injury-Induced Neuropathic Pain - Tissue-Protective Cytokines: Methods and Protocols - page 184

derivative without erythropoietic properties, decreased mechanical
allodynia and decreased levels of phospho-P-38, a signaling mole-
cule important in pain processing and inflammation, and TNF- ( 13 ).

The EPO-derivative ARA290, an 11-amino-acid peptide mimick-
ing the 3-dimensional structure of the B helix of EPO ( 14 ) has
shown to be able to prevent the onset of allodynia in animals with
nerve injury. In a rat model of neuropathic pain where animals
received a spared nerve injury (SNI), a short treatment paradigm
resulted in a delay of onset of allodynia, while the same paradigm
complemented with a once-per-week maintenance treatment pre-
vented the onset of allodynia for the duration of 15 weeks. It was
shown that ARA290 works through the EPOR-

α

-common-
receptor (EPOR-BCR) complex. Mice devoid of the BCR showed
no response to ARA290, whereas wild type mice showed reduced
levels of allodynia ( 15 ). EPO and its derivatives show efficacy in
neuropathic pain making these molecules promising agents as
treatment modalities.

β

2 Materials

1. Female Sprague-Dawley rats, 8 weeks old.
2. Ethanol 70% and wipes.
3. Absorbing under pad.
4. Syringe equipped with a 25 G needle containing
buprenorphin.
5. Vapor anesthetics (Sevoflurane, isoflurane: see Note 1).
6. (Animal) shaver.
7. Tape.
8. Disinfectant.
9. Gauzes.
10. Small cotton swabs.
11. 5-0 silk sutures.
12. 4-0 nylon sutures.
13. Standard pattern forceps, straight (Fine Science Tools,
Heidelberg, Germany).
14. Metzenbaum scissors, straight 14.5 cm (Fine Science Tools,
Heidelberg, Germany).
15. Bonn micro forceps, smooth 7 cm (Fine Science Tools,
Heidelberg, Germany).
16. Vannas spring scissors, straight 4 mm blade (Fine Science
Tools, Heidelberg, Germany).

2.1 Induction
of the Neuropathic
Pain Model: Spared
Nerve Injury