C88 Organisation of sensitisation of hind limb withdrawal reflexes during the development of acute antigen-induced inflammation in the anaesthetised rabbit

Sixteen rabbits were immunised against ovalbumin using the 2injection, 4-week regime described by Cooke (1988). At the end of the immunisation period, the animals were terminally anaesthetised with sodium pentobarbitone (average dose 42 mg kg, followed by an infusion of 19 mg kg h). Reflexes were evoked in the medial gastrocnemius (MG) muscle by electrical stimulation of the skin at the heel, and in S.E.M. tendinosus (ST) and tibialis anterior (TA) muscles by electrical stimulation of the skin at the base of the toes. Reflexes were averaged and integrated by computer. After a control period of 1 h, 5 mg ovalbumin in 100 ml of 0.9 % saline was injected subcutaneously either at the heel or at the base of the toes. Injection sites were always distal to the position of the nearby stimulating electrodes.