SYNCROSOME has acquired a new whole-body plethysmography system (Buxco, DSITM). Whole-body plethysmography is used to measure respiratory parameters in conscious unrestrained animals.
This system allows to obtain reliable results particularly for our model of citric acid-induced cough in guinea pigs thanks to an automatic assessment of cough. The FinePointe Software utilizes a specific algorithm to count cough and easily distinguished them from sneezes, augmented breaths and movements. The chamber is furthermore patented with a system of reduction of the ambient noise (Halycon). Outside air movements (door opening, engineer coughing…) will not impact the tracings. The system has an automatic chamber calibration for better accuracy. Finally, nebulization rate of citric acid is well controlled as well as the condensation in the chambers.
Thanks to this advanced technology, the efficacy of a candidate compound can be assessed with more predictability and quality acquired data. Moreover, our cough model is pharmacologically validated. The mean number of coughs in animals treated with the reference compound (codeine) is significantly reduced in comparison to animals treated with vehicle (see data below).
