Spinal Cord Lateral Hemisection and Asymmetric Behavioral Assessments in Adult Rats

Abstract

Incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI) often leads to impairments of sensorimotor functions and is clinically the most frequent type of SCI. Human Brown-Séquard syndrome is a common type of incomplete SCI caused by a lesion to one half of the spinal cord which results in paralysis and loss of proprioception on the same (or ipsilesional) side as the injury, and loss of pain and temperature sensation on the opposite (or contralesional) side. Adequate methodologies for producing a spinal cord lateral hemisection (HX) and assessing neurological impairments are essential to establish a reliable animal model of Brown-Séquard syndrome. Although lateral hemisection model plays a pivotal role in basic and translational research, standardized protocols for creating such a hemisection and assessing unilateralized function are lacking. The goal of this study is to describe step-by-step procedures to produce a rat spinal lateral HX at the 9 th thoracic (T9) vertebral level. We, then, describe a combined behavior scale for HX (CBS-HX) that provides a simple and sensitive assessment of asymmetric neurological performance for unilateral SCI. The CBS-HX, ranging from 0 to 18, is composed of 4 individual assessments which include unilateral hindlimb stepping (UHS), coupling, contact placing, and grid walking. For CBS-HX, the ipsilateral and contralateral hindlimbs are assessed separately. We found that, after a T9 HX, the ipsilateral hindlimb showed impaired behavior function whereas the contralateral hindlimb showed substantial recovery. The CBS-HX effectively discriminated behavioral functions between ipsilateral and contralateral hindlimbs and detected temporal progression of recovery of the ipsilateral hindlimb. The CBS-HX components can be analyzed separately or in combination with other measures when needed. Although we only provided visual descriptions of the surgical procedures and behavioral assessments of a thoracic HX, the principle may be applied to other incomplete SCIs and at other levels of the injury.

METTL3 Affects Spinal Cord Neuronal Apoptosis by Regulating Bcl-2 m6A Modifications After Spinal Cord Injury

“…The rats were expected to show a transient lower limb retraction response, indicating the successful establishment of the model. In the sham-operated group, the spinal cord was only exposed [ 39 ]. The wound was sutured, and penicillin 8 (U/kg/day for 3 days) was given intraperitoneally to prevent infection.…”

“…In the sham-operated group, the spinal cord was only exposed. 39 The wound was sutured, and penicillin 8 (U/kg/day for 3 days) was given intraperitoneally to prevent infection.…”

Spontaneous Post-Traumatic Recovery of Motor Function of the Hindlimb in Male Mice

“…Шкалу локомоторної активності ВВВ широко застосовують для визначення поведін кових наслідків травм СМ у гризунів [11,12]. Шкала (0-21 бал) відображає послідовні етапи відновлення моторних функцій із урахуванням рухової активності в суглобі, руху задньої кінцівки, крокування, координації передніх і задніх кінцівок, положення та стійкості тулуба, а також постави стопи та положення хвоста.…”

“…Плантарна постава стопи та початок крокування виникають у проміжній фазі посттравматичного відновлення, що описуються 3-4 балами шкали В. У останню фазу відновлення СМ відзначають локомоторну мобільність, стабільність постави тулуба, плантарну поставу стопи, координацію передніх і задніх кінцівок та стабільність постави тулуба (5-8 балів). За шкалою В, 9 балів характеризують нормальну локомоторну активність, стабільність постави тулуба та покращену життєздатність тварини [12]. Ю.А.…”

Behavioral Assessment of Sensory, Motor, Emotion, and Cognition in Rodent Models of Intracerebral Hemorrhage

“…You can watch the video of detailed procedures for mice as provided by reference ( 96 ). The video of detailed procedures for rats is available from reference ( 97 ).…”