New Model of Ventral Spinal Cord Lesion Induced by Balloon Compression in Rats.

Petr Krupa,Jessica Cf Kwok,James W Fawcett,Veronika Cimermanova,Pavla Jendelova,Katerina Stepankova,Lucia Machova Urdzikova

doi:10.3390/biomedicines8110477

Abstract

Despite the variety of experimental models of spinal cord injury (SCI) currently used, the model of the ventral compression cord injury, which is commonly seen in humans, is very limited. Ventral balloon compression injury reflects the common anatomical mechanism of a human lesion and has the advantage of grading the injury severity by controlling the inflated volume of the balloon. In this study, ventral compression of the SCI was performed by the anterior epidural placement of the balloon of a 2F Fogarty’s catheter, via laminectomy, at the level of T10. The balloon was rapidly inflated with 10 or 15 μL of saline and rested in situ for 5 min. The severity of the lesion was assessed by behavioral and immunohistochemical tests. Compression with the volume of 15 μL resulted in severe motor and sensory deficits represented by the complete inability to move across a horizontal ladder, a final Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan (BBB) score of 7.4 and a decreased withdrawal time in the plantar test (11.6 s). Histology and immunohistochemistry revealed a significant loss of white and gray matter with a loss of motoneuron, and an increased size of astrogliosis. An inflation volume of 10 μL resulted in a mild transient deficit. There are no other balloon compression models of ventral spinal cord injury. This study provided and validated a novel, easily replicable model of the ventral compression SCI, introduced by an inflated balloon of Fogarty´s catheter. For a severe incomplete deficit, an inflated volume should be maintained at 15 μL.

Highlights

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a life-changing medical condition with very high rates of morbidity.There are more than 12,500 new cases of spinal cord injury (SCI) each year in North America and 90% of them result from trauma caused by, for example, traffic accidents, falls from heights or sporting activities [1].The clinical outcome depends on the severity and spinal level
We introduced a novel and reproducible experimental model of a balloon-induced, ventral ischemic-compression thoracic spinal cord injury in the rat
Both the behavioral results and histochemical analysis show that the anterior balloon inflation induces a volume-dependent injury, preferably in the ventral spinal cord

Summary

Introduction

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a life-changing medical condition with very high rates of morbidity.There are more than 12,500 new cases of SCI each year in North America and 90% of them result from trauma caused by, for example, traffic accidents, falls from heights or sporting activities [1].The clinical outcome depends on the severity and spinal level. Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a life-changing medical condition with very high rates of morbidity. There are more than 12,500 new cases of SCI each year in North America and 90% of them result from trauma caused by, for example, traffic accidents, falls from heights or sporting activities [1]. The clinical outcome depends on the severity and spinal level. SCI remains unsatisfactory, leaving patients with various degrees of disability and dependency. With recent advancements in patient care, SCI patients have good long-term survival rates leading to high lifetime costs.

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