Assessing Tactile Allodynia in Mice

Tactile allodynia was assessed using von Frey filaments (Bioseb, France). Mice were placed in a plastic cage with a wire mesh floor which allowed access to the paws. The plastic cage was covered with an opacity cup to avoid visual stimulation. The area tested was the mid-plantar left hind paw. Mechanical threshold was tested using a modification of the simplified up-down method (Bonin et al., 2014 (link)). A test round started with filament #6 (0.40 g) and progressed to higher or lower filament value depending on the animal’s response. Each animal went through three test rounds for each paw at each experimental condition. Mechanical threshold is expressed as percentage according to baseline (%).