Eric Troncy

Université de Montréal | UdeM · Department of Veterinary Biomedicine

This study evaluated a therapeutic diet high in eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) of marine source (EPA:DHA ratio 0.69:1), turmeric extract, and hydrolysed collagen in cats (N = 30) with naturally occurring osteoarthritis (OA) over a 13-week (W) period, followed by a 4-W washout, using four previously validated pain/functional o...

State-of-the-art anaesthesia, analgesia, and surgery are key for achieving excellent experimental results, their reproducibility, for guaranteeing the highest standards of animal welfare and honouring an ethical commitment. They are the practical application of the Culture of Care of an institution in daily research activities. Key for success is e...

Feline osteoarthritis (OA) leads to chronic pain and somatosensory sensitisation. In humans, sensory exposure can modulate chronic pain. Recently, electroencephalography (EEG) revealed a specific brain signature to human OA. However, EEG pain characterisation or its modulation does not exist in OA cats, and all EEG were conducted in sedated cats, u...

Background Micro-RNAs could provide great insights about the neuropathological mechanisms associated with osteoarthritis (OA) pain processing. Using the validated Montreal Induction of Rat Arthritis Testing (MI-RAT) model, this study aimed to characterize neuroepigenetic markers susceptible to correlate with innovative pain functional phenotype and...

full article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1056871924000534

In silico modeling offers an opportunity to supplement and accelerate cardiac safety testing. With in silico modeling, computational simulation methods are used to predict electrophysiological interactions and pharmacological effects of novel drugs on critical physiological processes. The O’Hara-Rudy’s model was developed to predict the response to...

Veterinarians face the lack of a rapid, reliable, inexpensive, and treatment-sensitive metrological instrument reflecting feline osteoarthritis (OA) pain. The Montreal Instrument for Cat Arthritis Testing, for Use by Veterinarians (MI-CAT(V)) has been refined in 4 sub-sections, and we proposed its concurrent validation. Cats naturally affected by O...

Background Allergen testing is used to select antigens included in the desensitisation vaccine. Intradermal skin test (IDT) is the gold standard in cats, yet allergen‐specific immunoglobulin (Ig)E serological testing (ASIS) is often used. Feline data are lacking regarding the agreement between IDT and ASIS results. Hypothesis/Objectives The first...

When conducting toxicology studies, the interpretation of drug-related neurological clinical signs such as convulsions, myoclonus/myoclonic jerks, tremors, ataxia, and salivation requires an understanding of the spontaneous incidence of those observations in commonly used laboratory animal species. The spontaneous incidence of central nervous syste...

Validating animal pain models is crucial to enhancing translational research and response to pharmacological treatment. This study investigated the effects of a calibrated slight exercise protocol alone or combined with multimodal analgesia on sensory sensitivity, neuroproteomics, and joint structural components in the MI-RAT model. Joint instabili...

Despite the high prevalence of chronic pain as a disease in our society, there is a lack of effective treatment options for patients living with this condition. Gene therapies using recombinant AAVs are a direct method to selectively express genes of interest in target cells with the potential of, in the case of nociceptors, reducing neuronal firin...

The metrological properties of two performance-based outcome measures of feline osteoarthritis (OA), namely Effort Path (Path) and Stairs Assay Compliance (Stairs), were tested. Cats naturally affected by OA (n = 32) were randomly distributed into four groups (A: 0.40, B: 0.25, C: 0.15, or D: 0.00 mg firocoxib/kg bodyweight) and assessed during bas...

With osteoarthritis being the most common degenerative disease in pet animals, a very broad panel of natural health products is available on the market for its management. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis, registered on PROSPERO (CRD42021279368), was to test for the evidence of clinical analgesia efficacy of fortified foods and n...

Purpose Several observational studies suggest that estrogens could bias pain perception. To evaluate the influence of estrogenic impregnation on pain expression, a prospective, randomized, controlled, blinded study was conducted in a Sprague–Dawley rat model of surgically induced osteoarthritis (OA). Methods Female rats were ovariectomized and pre...

The Canadian consensus guidelines on OA treatment were created from a diverse group of experts, with a strong clinical and/or academic background in treating OA in dogs. The document is a summary of the treatment recommendations made by the group, with treatments being divided into either a core or secondary recommendation. Each treatment or modali...

Context/Objectives: Osteoarthritis (OA) does not only affect humans but also their pets. Feline OA affects over 40% of adult and 80% of geriatric cats. Joint degeneration causes bone remodelling, functional disabilities, and pain. This could include an hypersensitivity profile in response to mechanical or thermal stimulation [1]. During the OA deve...

Le but de cette revue systématique et métanalyse était d’examiner les évidences d’efficacité clinique analgésique des diètes enrichies et nutraceutiques testés chez des chiens arthrosiques. À partir de quatre bases de données bibliographiques électroniques, 1096 publications ont été retracées, en plus de 20 publications provenant de sources interne...

Respiratory monitoring, using impedance with implanted telemetry in socially housed animals, was not possible until the recent development of digital signal transmission. The objective of this study was to evaluate digital telemetry monitoring of cardiopulmonary parameters (respiratory rate, tidal volume, minute volume, electrocardiography (DII), s...

Objective To describe how small animal anaesthesia and analgesia is performed in English-speaking Canada, document any variation among practices especially in relation to practice type and veterinarian’s experience and compare results to published guidelines. Design Observational study, electronic survey. Sample 126 respondents. Procedure A ques...

Introduction Corrected QT (QTc) interval is an essential proarrhythmic risk biomarker, but recent data have identified limitations to its use. The J to T-peak (JTp) interval is an alternative biomarker for evaluating drug-induced proarrhythmic risk. The aim of this study was to evaluate pharmacological effects using spatial magnitude leads and DII...

Quantitative sensory testing (QST) is a psychophysical test used to quantify somatosensory sensation under normal or pathological conditions including osteoarthritis (OA). Objective This study aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies using QST in healthy and osteoarthritic cats, registered at Systematic Review Research Fac...

Objective To describe how small animal anaesthesia is performed in French-speaking Eastern Canada, and the variations between practices, in particular based on practice type, veterinarian gender and experience. Design Observational study, survey. Sample 156 respondents. Procedure A questionnaire was designed to assess current small animal anaest...

Seizures are amongst the most frequent neurological issues encountered in pre-clinical safety testing. The objective was to characterize EEG morphologies and premonitory signs in drug-induced seizures in preclinical species. A comparative (inter-species) retrospective analysis for drug-induced seizures recorded by video-telemetry was conducted in r...

Background This study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of reduced-dosage ketoprofen with or without tramadol in dogs. Five healthy dogs receiving standard-dosage ketoprofen (2 mg/kg SC, then 1 mg/kg PO daily) comprised Group A. Twenty dogs with osteoarthritis were randomized to receive reduced-dosage ketoprofen (0.5 mg/kg SC once; 0.25 mg/...

The monosodium iodoacetate (MIA)‐induced joint degeneration in rats is the most used animal model to screen analgesic drugs to alleviate osteoarthritis (OA) pain. This study aimed to evaluate the analgesic efficacy of pregabalin (PGB) in an MIA‐induced OA model in rodents by using functional and neuroproteomic pain assessment methods. Treatment gro...

Spontaneous arrhythmia characterization in healthy rats can support interpretation when studying novel therapies. Male (n = 55) and female (n = 40) Sprague-Dawley rats with telemetry transmitters for a derivation II ECG. Arrhythmias were assessed from continuous ECG monitoring over a period of 24-48 h, and data analyzed using an automated detection...

Osteoarthritis, the leading cause of chronic joint pain, is studied through different animal models, but none of them is ideal in terms of reliability and translational value. In this pilot study of female rats, 3 surgical models of osteoarthritic pain, i.e., destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM), cranial cruciate ligament transection (CCLT)...

Seizures are amongst the most frequent neurological issues encountered in pre-clinical safety testing. The objective was to characterize EEG morphologies and premonitory signs in drug-induced seizures in preclinical species. A comparative (inter-species) retrospective analysis for drug-induced seizures recorded by video-telemetry was conducted in r...

Introduction:: Based on the ICH S7B and E14 guidance documents, QT interval (QTc) is used as the primary in vivo biomarker to assess the risk of drug-induced torsades de pointes (TdP). Clinical and nonclinical data suggest that drugs that prolong the corrected QTc with balanced multiple ion channel inhibition (most importantly the l-type calcium,...

This study aimed to characterize bone cancer pain (quantitative sensory testing (QST), stance asymmetry index, actimetry, scores of pain and quality of life (QoL)) in dogs with appendicular osteosarcoma (OSA), and to evaluate a stepwise palliative analgesic treatment. The pain profile of thirteen client-owned dogs with OSA was compared with seven h...

This study aimed to describe the peak vertical force (PVF) over a 1-year period in a stabilized canine cranial cruciate deficient stifle model. Our hypothesis was that PVF would be restored to Baseline (intact) at the end of the follow-up. Fifteen (> 20 kg) mixed-breed dogs were included in this study. Cranial cruciate ligament was transected on Da...

Challenges in the clinical assessment of feline osteoarthritis (OA)-related pain and disability impede diagnosis and treatment of the disease. A pain scale was developed for use by cat owners and caretakers, the Montreal Instrument for Cat Arthritis Testing - Caretaker/Owner (MI-CAT(C)). Following content validation and a pilot assessment (n=11 cat...

Treatment of chronic pain in cats involves multimodal therapies including both administration of analgesic drugs and the use of nonpharmacological techniques. The ultimate goal of treatment is to improve quality of life. Pharmacological options include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), gabapentin, amitriptyline, tramadol, and piprants....

Objectives Feline osteoarthritis causes pain and disability. Detection and measurement is challenging, relying heavily on owner report. This study describes refinement of the Montreal Instrument for Cat Arthritis Testing, for Use by Veterinarians. Methods A video analysis of osteoarthritic (n = 6) and non-osteoarthritic (n = 4) cats facilitated ex...

Objective: Reporting the rate of positive (+) and negative (-) responders based on an objective outcome measure of pain-related functional disability/lameness in dogs with naturally occurring osteoarthritis (OA), and the relationship between initial lameness severity and the odds of being a (+) responder. Study design: Retrospective analysis of...

Objective Inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) is commonly used as a treatment of pulmonary hypertension. Its action is purported to be specific to the lung, but extrapulmonary effects have been reported. The objective of this study was to evaluate if iNO could compensate the renal impairment induced by ketoprofen, a conventional non-steroidal anti-inflammat...

Failure of analgesic drugs in clinical development is common. Along with the current "reproducibility crisis" in pain research, this has led some to question the use of animal models. Experimental models tend to comprise genetically homogeneous groups of young, male rodents in restricted and unvarying environments, and pain-producing assays that ma...

To evaluate the toxicity of short-term high doses of meloxicam in American kestrels (Falco sparverius), 32 male captive-born, 1- to 4-year-old American kestrels were randomly assigned to 4 groups: 3 groups treated with meloxicam (n = 9 per group) and a control group (n = 5). Meloxicam was administered orally via feeding tube in the proventriculus a...

Objectives This study aimed to (1) compare outcome assessments in normal and osteoarthritic cats and (2) evaluate the analgesic efficacy of tramadol in feline osteoarthritis (OA), in a prospective, randomised, blinded, placebo-controlled, crossover design. Methods Twenty cats were included after clinical examination, blood work and full body radio...

Raw data for Motor Activity outcome. The excel file includes all raw data of Motor Activity outcome measured (epoch of 2 min) for normal (n = 4) and osteoarthritic (n = 15) cats used in Phase 1 and Phase 2. (XLSX)

Raw data for Peak Vertical Force and Response to Mechanical Temporal Summation outcomes. The excel file includes all raw data of Peak Vertical Force and Response to Mechanical Temporal Summation outcomes measurement for normal (n = 5) and osteoarthritic (n = 15) cats used in Phase 1, as well as all raw data for the 15 osteoarthritic cats used in Ph...

Introduction: QT has a long history of heart rate (HR) correction but limited investigations have been undertaken to assess the impact of cardiovascular parameters on left ventricular (LV) contractility in drug safety testing. Cardiac contractility is affected by preload (Cyon-Frank-Starling law), afterload (Anrep effect) and HR (Bowditch effect)....

Background and aims: Characterising the temporal evolution of changes observed in pain functional assessment, spinal neuropeptides and cartilage lesions of the joint after chemical osteoarthritis (OA) induction in rats. Methods and results: On day (D) 0, OA was induced by an IA injection of monosodium iodoacetate (MIA). Rats receiving 2mg MIA we...

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a highly prevalent chronic and progressive condition in companion animals. With no available curative treatment, veterinarians attempt to manage symptoms of pain. Pharmacological substances are most frequently recommended to manage the clinical signs of OA, with nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs being the mainstay of treatm...

Objective: To compare the motor and sensory block efficacy and duration of a modified paravertebral brachial plexus block (PBPB) after administration of lidocaine alone (LI) or combined with epinephrine (LE). Study design: Prospective, randomized, blinded, crossover study. Animals: A total of eight healthy female Beagle dogs. Methods: Under...

Objectives - To validate a thermal threshold (TT) nociceptive model in bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) and to document TT changes after administration of morphine. Study design - Two part randomized, blinded, controlled, experimental study. Animals - Five adult bearded dragons (242–396 g). Methods - A TT device delivered a ramped nociceptive sti...

Adrenaline is known to prolong the duration of local anesthesia but its effects on the pharmacokinetic processes of local anesthetic drugs are not fully understood. Our objective was to develop a compartmental model for quantification of adrenaline’s impact on the pharmacokinetics of perineurally-injected lidocaine in the dog. Dogs were subjected t...

Lidocaine time-concentration data in dogs dosed paravertebrally with plain and adrenalinated lidocaine formulations. Subject#, subject number; ID, identification; Formulation, lidocaine formulation used; Time (min), time following the initiation of the 1st injection; Cp (mg/L), plasma lidocaine concentration (mg/L). (XLSX)

Background. Osteoarthritis is the leading cause of chronic joint pain, causing important productivity and economic losses. It is believed that peripheral and centralized sensitization play a role in the creation and maintenance of a chronic painful state. Different animal models have been employed for the investigation of pain mechanisms and evalua...

Background. Osteoarthritis is the leading cause of chronic joint pain, causing important productivity and economic losses. It is believed that peripheral and centralized sensitization play a role in the creation and maintenance of a chronic painful state. Different animal models have been employed for the investigation of pain mechanisms and evalua...

The aim of this study was to validate the French version of the UNESP-Botucatu multidimensional composite pain scale (MCPS-Fr) to assess postoperative pain in cats. Two veterinarians and one DVM student identified three domains of behavior based on video analyses: "psychomotor change", "protection of the painful area" and "physiological variables"....

The aim of this study was to validate the French version of the UNESP-Botucatu multidimensional composite pain scale (MCPS-Fr) to assess postoperative pain in cats. Two veterinarians and one DVM student identified three domains of behavior based on video analyses: "psychomotor change", "protection of the painful area" and "physiological variables"....

Background: Lack of validity in osteoarthritis pain models and assessment methods is suspected. Our goal was to 1) assess the repeatability and reproducibility of measurement and the influence of environment, and acclimatization, to different pain assessment outcomes in normal rats, and 2) test the concurrent validity of the most reliable methods i...

Background Lack of validity in osteoarthritis pain models and assessment methods is suspected. Our goal was to 1) assess the repeatability and reproducibility of measurement and the influence of environment, and acclimatization, to different pain assessment outcomes in normal rats, and 2) test the concurrent validity of the most reliable methods in...