Figure 3

Home cage-based behavioral assessment. The graph (a) shows (the distance moved by the mice in the PhenoTyper home cages during the experimental phase for each 12-h of light phases (☼) and dark phases (☽) (group sizes differing from n = 8: males day 2 light/dark and day 3 light surgery + N n = 7, day 4 light/dark surgery + N n = 6 and all other groups n = 7). All female surgery mice moved a significantly shorter distance in the dark phase on day 0, regardless of the analgesic regimen. Distance moved was still significantly impaired during the dark phase on day 1 in the female mice of the + NL, + NO, and + NLO subgroups. The nest scores during the experimental phase are illustrated in (b) (group sizes differing from n = 8: males day 1 drug-control + NO n = 7, day 4 surgery + N n = 7). The nest complexity was significantly affected in both sexes in the first hours after surgery. Nest complexity of the mice in the surgery + N subgroup was not affected at all in the males, whereas it increased in the females on the first day. The latency to initiate burrowing within 20 h (day 0-1) is shown in (c) (group sizes differing from n = 8: males drug-control and surgery + NO n = 7). Both male and female mice in the surgery + NO subgroup showed a significantly increased latency to the onset of burrowing activity after surgery. (* = p < 0.05, analgesic regimen color-coded in (a) and (b); mean ± SD in (a) and (c), median ± IQR in (b); Two-way RM ANOVA/ Mixed effects model with Bonferroni post hoc test in (a), Kruskal-Wallis Test with Dunns post hoc test in (b), One-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post hoc test in (c)).