Automated phenotyping of postoperative delirium-like behaviour in mice reveals the therapeutic efficacy of dexmedetomidine.

Abstract

Postoperative delirium (POD) is a complicated and harmful clinical syndrome. Traditional behaviour analysis mostly focuses on static parameters. However, animal behaviour is a bottom-up and hierarchical organizational structure composed of time-varying posture dynamics. Spontaneous and task-driven behaviours are used to conduct comprehensive profiling of behavioural data of various aspects of model animals. A machine-learning based method is used to assess the effect of dexmedetomidine. Fourteen statistically different spontaneous behaviours are used to distinguish the non-POD group from the POD group. In the task-driven behaviour, the non-POD group has greater deep versus shallow investigation preference, with no significant preference in the POD group. Hyperactive and hypoactive subtypes can be distinguished through pose evaluation. Dexmedetomidine at a dose of 25 μg kg-1 reduces the severity and incidence of POD. Here we propose a multi-scaled clustering analysis framework that includes pose, behaviour and action sequence evaluation. This may represent the hierarchical dynamics of delirium-like behaviours.

• Authors: Silu Cao, Yiling Wu, Zilong Gao, Jinxuan Tang, Lize Xiong, Ji Hu, Cheng Li
• Journal: Communications biology (Commun Biol) Vol. 6 Issue 1 Pg. 807 (08 02 2023) ISSN: 2399-3642 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 37532767 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: © 2023. The Author(s).

Chemical References

• Dexmedetomidine

Topics

• Animals
• Mice
• Emergence Delirium (drug therapy)
• Dexmedetomidine (pharmacology, therapeutic use)
• Delirium (diagnosis, drug therapy, etiology)
• Postoperative Complications (drug therapy, epidemiology)
• Behavior, Animal