Pica in Rats as a Preclinical Model of Emesis

Abstract

The ability to assess the potential for gastrointestinal adverse events in a preclinical setting is a challenge in the development of new drugs, as the vast majority of in vivo research is conducted in rodent species lacking a vomiting reflex. The use of higher species capable of emesis is often limited by cost, technical experience, and relevant efficacy models to define a therapeutic index. Additionally, investigators should be mindful of ethical considerations when using more sentient species when an alternative in lower species is available. This unit describes the use of pica behavior in rodents as an alternative for evaluating emetic potential in vivo. After an acclimation period, the incidence of rats engaging in pica following the administration of a test article can be used to generate a dose-response curve of the pica behavior. When linked with an appropriate efficacy model, this allows compounds to be ranked based on therapeutic index. © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The Antiemetic Mechanisms of Gingerols against Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting

“…Nausea and vomiting can be modeled in species with or without vomiting response. While vomiting can be directly observed in emetic models such as minks, in models like rodents that lack emetic response, the consumption of nonnutritive substances like kaolin clay (i.e., pica behavior) indicates the severity of vomiting [ 28 ]. Multiple studies investigated the antiemetic effect of gingerols against CINV in the vomiting model of minks or the pica model of rats induced by chemotherapeutic agents.…”