Care of Rats with Complete High-Thoracic Spinal Cord Injury

Abstract

The complications of spinal cord injury (SCI) increase in number and severity with the level of injury. A recent survey of SCI researchers reveals that animal models of high SCI are essential. Despite this consensus, most laboratories continue to work with mid- or low-thoracic SCI. The available data on cervical SCI in animals characterize incomplete injuries; for example, nearly all studies published in 2009 examine discrete, tract-specific lesions that are not clinically-relevant. A primary barrier to developing animal models of severe, higher SCI is the challenge of animal care, a critical determinant of experimental outcome. Currently, many of these practices vary substantially between laboratories, and are passed down anecdotally within institutions. The care of animals with SCI is complex, and becomes much more challenging as the lesion level ascends. In our experience, the care of animals with high-thoracic (T3) SCI is much more demanding than the care of animals with low-thoracic SCI, even though both injuries result in paraplegia. We have developed an animal care regimen for rats with complete high-thoracic SCI. Our practices have been refined over the past 7 years, in collaboration with animal care centre staff and veterinarians. During this time, we have cared for more than 300 rats with T3 complete transection SCI, with experimental end-points of up to 3 months. Here we provide details of our animal care procedures, including acclimatization, housing, diet, antibiotic prophylaxis, surgical procedures, post-operative monitoring, and prevention of complications. In our laboratory, this comprehensive approach consistently produces good outcomes following T3 complete transection SCI: using body weight as an objective indicator of animal health, we have found that our rats typically return to pre-operative weights within 10 days of T3 complete SCI. It is our hope that the information provided here will improve care of experimental animals, and facilitate adoption of models that directly address the complications associated with higher level injuries.

Evaluating cardiovascular dysfunction during increased activity and exercise rehabilitation following incomplete thoracic spinal cord injury in the adult rat.

“…As such, it has been shown that following T3 transection, repetitive increases in arterial pressure during experimentally-generated AD leads to exacerbation of SCI-induced hypersensitivity to phenylephrine in the superior mesenteric artery (Alan et al 2010). Therefore, exercise regimens that induce oscillating pressure responses, such as those we have shown here, should be implemented with caution as repetitive elevations in blood pressure may induce shear injury to the vascular endothelium further exacerbating vascular and CV dysfunction.…”

“…The inability to control BP within a narrow range is a significant pathology that has been shown to negatively impact cardiac and vascular structure and function. For instance, rodent studies examining the effects of recurrent bouts of AD show that labile blood pressure results in vascular hyperresponsiveness to α-adrenoceptor activation (Arnold et al 1995, Alan et al 2010.…”

“…Rats were weighed and monitored daily for two weeks following SCI, and three times per week thereafter. Animals were socially housed unless prohibited by aggressive behavior and provided with an enriched standardized diet as previously described (Ramsey et al 2010).…”

“…Severity of AD was assessed using at least 3 bouts of CRD (noisy recordings removed), a procedure that is commonly administered in the laboratory (Alan et al 2010. Colorectal distension was not performed in uninjured control animals.…”

Estratégia terapêutica após contusão da medula espinhal: recuperação funcional e estabilidade cortical sensório-motora

“…Dentre as várias alterações decorrentes da lesão medular, a perda de peso tem sido relatada como uma alteração de rápida instalação (Erschbamer et al, 2006;Baastrup et al, 2010;Ramsey et al, 2010).…”