The abdominal constriction response and its suppression by analgesic drugs in mouse

After intraperitoneal injection of a noxious agent, the rat and the mouse show a response consisting of a wave of constriction and elongation passing caudally along the abdominal wall, sometimes accompanied by twisting of the trunk and followed by extension of the hind limbs (Vander Wende & Margolin, 1956; Siegmund, Cadmus & Lu, 1957). This response has been variously called " writhing" (Vander Wende & Margolin, 1956), " stretching" (Koster, Anderson & de Beer, 1959), " cramping " (Murray & Miller, 1960} and " squirming " (Whittle, 1964a). Because of the emotional implications of these terms, it was later called the " abdominal constriction response " (Collier, Hammond, Horwood-Barrett & Schneider, 1964). We describe here an examination of the ability of a number of substances, including some occurring in tissues and causing pain in man (Keele & Armstrong, 1964), to elicit abdominal constriction responses in mice.