Assessing Susceptibility to Carbon Dioxide Gas in Three Rat Strains Using the Loss of Righting Reflex

Overdose of carbon dioxide gas (CO₂) is a common euthanasia method for rodents; however, CO₂ exposure activates nociceptors in rats at concentrations equal to or greater than 37% and is reported to be painful in humans at concentrations equal to or greater than 32.5%. Exposure of rats to CO₂ could cause pain before loss of consciousness. We used 2 standardized loss of righting reflex (LORR) methods to identify CO₂ concentrations associated with unconsciousness in Wistar, Long???Evans, and Sprague???Dawley rats (n = 28 animals per strain). A rotating, motorized cylinder was used to test LORR while the rat was being exposed to increasing concentrations of CO₂. LORR was defined based on a 15-second observation period. The 2 methods were 1) a 1-Paw assessment (the righting reflex was considered to be present if one or more paws contacted the cylinder after the rat was positioned in dorsal recumbency), and 2) a 4-Paw assessment (the righting reflex was considered to be present if all 4 paws contacted the cylinder after the rat was positioned in dorsal recumbency). Data were analyzed with Probit regression, and dose-response curves were plotted. 1-Paw EC₉₅ values (CO₂ concentration at which LORR occurred for 95% of the population) were Wistar, 27.2%; Long???Evans, 29.2%; and Sprague???Dawley, 35.0%. 4-Paw EC₉₅ values were Wistar, 26.2%; Long???Evans, 25.9%, and Sprague???Dawley, 31.1%. Sprague???Dawley EC₉₅ values were significantly higher in both 1- and 4-Paw tests as compared with Wistar and Long???Evans rats. No differences were detected between sexes for any strain. The 1-Paw EC₉₅ was significantly higher than the 4-Paw EC₉₅ only for Sprague-Dawley rats. These results suggest that a low number of individual rats from the strains studied may experience pain during CO₂ euthanasia.