ABSTRACT
Assessment of locomotion recovery in preclinical studies of experimental spinal cord injury remains challenging. We studied the CatWalk XT® gait analysis for evaluating hindlimb functional recovery in a widely used and clinically relevant thoracic contusion/compression spinal cord injury model in rats. Rats were randomly assigned to either a T9 spinal cord injury or sham laminectomy. Locomotion recovery was assessed using the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan open field rating scale and the CatWalk XT® gait analysis. To determine the potential bias from weight changes, corrected hindlimb (H) values (divided by the unaffected forelimb (F) values) were calculated. Six weeks after injury, cyst formation, astrogliosis, and the deposition of chondroitin sulfate glycosaminoglycans were assessed by immunohistochemistry staining. Compared with the baseline, a significant spontaneous recovery could be observed in the CatWalk XT® parameters max intensity, mean intensity, max intensity at%, and max contact mean intensity from 4 weeks after injury onwards. Of note, corrected values (H/F) of CatWalk XT® parameters showed a significantly less vulnerability to the weight changes than absolute values, specifically in static parameters. The corrected CatWalk XT® parameters were positively correlated with the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan rating scale scores, cyst formation, the immunointensity of astrogliosis and chondroitin sulfate glycosaminoglycan deposition. The CatWalk XT® gait analysis and especially its static parameters, therefore, seem to be highly useful in assessing spontaneous recovery of hindlimb function after severe thoracic spinal cord injury. Because many CatWalk XT® parameters of the hindlimbs seem to be affected by body weight changes, using their corrected values might be a valuable option to improve this dependency.
ABSTRACT
ObjectiveTo explore the effects of Jinyaodai on neurological behavior and Akt expression in the cortex of rats following spinal cord contusion injury.MethodsRats were randomly divided into control group,spinal cord contusion group and Jinyaodai group.The weight-drop device was employed to prepare the spinal cord injury(SCI) model.Jinyaodai was administrated every day by using a stomach tube.Rats were performed the BBB assessment,and the detection of Akt expression and count of Neun positive neurons in cortex following SCI.ResultsCompared with control group,deficit of motor function in hindlimbs was seen at 3 dpo following cord contusion,and partial functional recovery could be seen from 7 dpo to 1 m.Treatment of Jinyaodai greatly increased the BBB scores ( 14.1 ± 1.4 ) more than SCI group ( 7.8 ± 1.3 ) at 1 month (P ＜ 0.05 ) ; Simultaneously,compared with SCI rats,treatment of Jinyaodai significantly increased the expression of Akt (0.53 ± 0.05,0.68 ± 0.07,P ＜0.05 ) and the number of neurons ( 11 ± 2, 15 ± 1 ; P ＜ 0.05 ) in the lesion-induced cortex of rats.Conclusion Jinyaodai may play an essential roles in functional recovery after spinal cord injury,in which the underlying mechanism may be involved in the expression of Akt in cortex.
