Deficits in burrowing behaviors are associated with mouse models of neuropathic but not inflammatory pain or migraine

Abstract

Burrowing, or the removal of material from an enclosed tube, is emerging as a prominent means of testing changes in a voluntary behavior in rodent models of various pain states. Here, we report no significant differences between male and female mice in terms of burrowing performance, in a substantially shorter time frame than previous reports. We found that the color of the burrow tube affects the variability of burrowing performance when tested in a lit room, suggesting that light aversion is at least a partial driver of this behavior. Spared nerve injury (SNI; as a model of neuropathy) impairs burrowing performance and correlates with enhanced mechanical sensitivity as assessed by von Frey filaments, as well as being pharmacologically reversed by an analgesic, gabapentin. Loss of the SNI-induced burrowing deficit was observed with daily testing post-surgery, but not when the testing interval was increased to 5 days, suggesting a confounding effect of daily repeat testing in this paradigm. Intraplantar complete Freund’s adjuvant (as a model of inflammatory pain) and systemic nitroglycerin (as a model of migraine-like symptoms) administration did not induce any burrowing deficit, indicating that assessment of burrowing behavior may not be universally suitable for the detection of behavioral changes across all rodent pain models.