Abstract
Rodent self-grooming comprises behaviors devoted to caring of the body surface; presentations that have apparent stereotyped and recurring characteristics which makes rodent grooming a appropriate translational tool for studying the effects of substance abuse in humans. Two opioids, codeine and tramadol, both used for the relief of mild to moderately severe pain but overtime has been abused by people to relieve emotional pain were considered in this study. 54 male and female albino rats (24 females and 30 males) with weight ranging from 120g-180g rats were assigned to three experimental groups (codeine, tramadol and combined group) and one control group. In the study, 6 rats were assigned per group. Rats in the codeine group were orally administered 8mg/kg of codeine while rats in the tramadol group were administered with 20mg/kg of tramadol. Rats in the combined group were administered both 8mg/kg of codeine and 10mg/kg of tramadol. Female rats exposed to chronic intake of Tramadol only (Mean =3.14) were found to significantly displayed more body licking grooming behavior compared to female rats administered Codeine only (Mean = 1.33), combination of Codeine and Tramadol (mean = .67) and the control (mean =1.79) (<i>p</i> < .001). Whereas, male rats in the control (mean = 4.23) significantly displayed more body licking grooming behavior compared to male rats administered Codeine only (mean = 3.01), Tramadol only (mean = 3.35), and the combination of Codeine and Tramadol (mean = 2.49) (<i>p</i> < .05). Also, female rats exposed to chronic intake of Codeine only (mean = 4.92), significantly displayed more daily face washing grooming behavior compared to female rats administered Tramadol only (mean = 3.33), combination of Codeine and Tramadol (mean = 3.29) and the control group (mean = 4.76) (<i>p</i> < .001). Whereas, male rats exposed to chronic intake of Codeine only (mean = 4.92), significantly displayed more daily face washing grooming behavior compared to male rats administered Tramadol only (mean = 3.33), combination of Codeine and Tramadol (mean = 3.29) and the control group (mean = 4.76) (<i>p</i> < .001). The findings demonstrated that chronic administration of opioids, codeine and tramadol affected grooming behaviors i.e. face washing and body licking behaviors which are related to possible deterioration of physical appearance and personal grooming habits in humans. Hence, the study suggests that further exploration to unravel the risks related to the consistent consumption of codeine and tramadol on other body systems be considered.
Highlights
Self-grooming in animals is an innate behaviour that is involved in hygiene maintenance and other physiologically important processes, including thermoregulation, social communication and de-arousal (1)
Hypothesis I There will be a significant difference in body licking behavior among male and female rats ingested with different drugs
The result demonstrated that body licking behaviour increased by 13.4% with exposure to chronic intake of psychoactive drugs (Codeine & Tramadol) compared to the control group
Summary
Self-grooming in animals is an innate behaviour that is involved in hygiene maintenance and other physiologically important processes, including thermoregulation, social communication and de-arousal (1). It is one of the most frequently observed behaviours in rodents and has a patterned, sequential organization. Typical grooming behaviour shows a general pattern of head-to-toe progression (paw licking – nose/face wash – body wash – tail/genitals wash) (2). Even humans engage in self-grooming, and this behaviour shows some similarity to that seen in other animals [2]. Human self-grooming behaviour, can become pathological, for example, during stressful conditions or in certain neuropsychiatric disorders. The assessment of rodent self-grooming is potentially useful for translational scientific practice, as unusual rodent self-grooming can be related to human disorders in which abnormal self-grooming is a symptom
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