Abstract

ROJAS MARTINEZ, Roberto L  and  MARTINEZ MARRERO, Concepción L. Drug-induced catalepsy in mice. Rev Cubana Invest Bioméd [online]. 2012, vol.31, n.1, pp. 73-80. ISSN 0864-0300.

Drug-induced catalepsy in rodents is an experimental model commonly used to study extrapyramidalism. The technique has not been standardized, and the methodologies used are difficult to conduct and do not always facilitate the evaluation of results. Reference has also been made to various factors which might lead to pseudocatalepsy or to a false positive response. The objective of this study was to develop a simple, reliable technique in which pseudocatalepsy would not be observed, and verify the viability of its application. A description is presented of a procedure using mice in a handmade device and the results obtained after modifying the variables posture of the animal, time to make the observation, and number of observations for a given animal. Haloperidol was used as reference drug. It was concluded that the technique proposed is of easy application and yields consistent results, without any evidence of pseudocatalepsy in the sample used.

Keywords : catalepsy; experimental model; mice; haloperidol.

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