ABSTRACT
Objective To evaluate a new model of anterior spinal cord injury (SCI) syndrome and to explore the pathophysiology of SCI. Methods Fifty-five Wistar rats were randomly divided into a sham-operated group ( 10 rats) and an experimental group (45 rats). A metal hook was fixed in front of the rats'abdomens to compress the ventral part of the spinal cord in the experimental group. According to the degree and time of compression,the rats in the experimental group were divided into light, moderate, heavy injury subgroups. The tilt board test and the Bosso-Beattie- Bresnahan (BBB) locomotor rating scale were used to assess the rats' behavior at the 1st , 7th andl4th days and after 4 and 8 weeks. The latency of somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) and motor evoked potential (MEP) were measured before and 8 weeks after the operation. Results After the operation the gradients in the tilt board test and BBB scores in the experimental subgroups were all significantly lower than in the sham-operated group. There were also significant differences among the 3 severity subgroups. Eight weeks after the operation the average MEP latencies in the experimental subgroups were significantly longer than in the sham-operated group, and there were also significant differences among the 3 severity sub-groups. MEP in the heavy injury subgroup was significantly longer compared with the sham-operated group. Conclusions Obvious behavioral and neuroelectrophysiological changes were observed in the injured rats. Models of different severity could be prepared and reproduced to simulate clinical SCI.