Animal models of painful diabetic neuropathy: the STZ rat model.

Painful peripheral neuropathy is a common secondary complication of diabetes. The streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rat is the most commonly employed animal model used to study mechanisms of painful diabetic neuropathy and to evaluate potential therapies. A low dose STZ protocol is described for inducing experimental diabetes in the rat. Several behavioral assays are described, which are routinely used to assess different aspects of neuropathic pain in this animal model of diabetes mellitus, including mechanical allodynia and heat hyperalgesia.