Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 27, 2026
Author Spotlight: Establishing a Rodent Model for Investigating Depression Factors in Traditional Mongolian Medicine
Published on: October 27, 2023
A new measure of decompression sickness in the rat
Peter Buzzacott1, Aleksandra Mazur1, Qiong Wang1
1Laboratoire Optimisation des Régulations Physiologiques (ORPhy), UFR Sciences et Techniques, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, 6 avenue Le Gorgeu, CS 93837, 29200 Brest Cedex 3, France.
Abstract:
In this study we assessed the reliability of a tilting-board grip score as a measure of decompression sickness in rats. In experiments using a hyperbaric compression/decompression protocol, rats were observed for signs of decompression sickness and their grip strength measured on a tilting particle board hinged to a metal frame. Angles at which rats lost grip were converted to gravitational vectors. Decreased mean grip scores following decompression were fitted to a logistic regression model with strain, age, and weight. Decrease in grip score was significantly associated with observed decompression sickness (P = 0.0036). The log odds ratio for decompression sickness = 1.40 (decrease in grip score). In rats with no decrease in mean grip score there was a 50% probability of decompression sickness (pDCS). This increased steadily with decreases in mean grip score. A decrease of 0.3 had a 60% pDCS, a decrease of 0.6 had a 70% pDCS, and a decrease of 2.1 had a 95% pDCS. The tilting board grip score is a reliable measure of the probability of decompression sickness.
