The CatWalk XT® Gait Analysis Is Closely Correlated with Tissue Damage after Cervical Spinal Cord Injury in Rats

Guoli Zheng,Lennart Riemann,Alexander Younsi,Andreas Unterberg,Klaus Zweckberger,Moritz Scherer,Thomas Skutella,Johannes Walter

doi:10.3390/app11094097

Guoli Zheng, Lennart Riemann + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/app11094097

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Abstract

Objective and consistent assessment of locomotion recovery remains challenging in rodent spinal cord injury (SCI). We, therefore, studied the validity and relevance of the CatWalk XT® gait analysis as a tool for assessing functional outcome in a clinically relevant cervical SCI model in rats. In total, 20 Wistar rats were randomly assigned to either a C6 clip compression/contusion SCI or a sham laminectomy. Locomotion recovery was assessed weekly using the CatWalk XT® gait analysis and the BBB open field score. Six weeks after SCI, the percentage of preserved spinal cord tissue was measured by glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining. Statistical analyses were performed to assess the correlation of the BBB and the percentage of preserved tissue with 30 different CatWalk XT® parameters. SCI caused a bilateral and significant functional impairment in all studied CatWalk XT® parameters. Similar to the BBB, a significant spontaneous recovery could be observed in most of the CatWalk XT® parameters in the following weeks. Correlation between the hindlimb CatWalk XT® parameters and the BBB was good (53% of r values > 0.6) while the correlation between the forelimb and the hindlimb CatWalk XT® parameters and the percentage of preserved tissue was even stronger (83% of r values > 0.6). The CatWalk XT® gait analysis is closely correlated with tissue damage after cervical contusion/compression SCI and can be used as an objective and consistent tool for assessing locomotion recovery.

Highlights

Spinal cord injury (SCI), often caused by accidents, typically results in a series of severe physical and psychological health problems for the individual patient as well as in a huge social and economic burden for the society [1]
In order to investigate the consistency of the different CatWalk XT® parameters when describing spontaneous recovery after severe cervical contusion/compression SCI in rats, we examined the relationship between our CatWalk XT® results and the BBB open field scores as well as the histological assessment of preserved tissue, determining Spearman or Pearson correlation coefficients, respectively
Our data support the notion that the CatWalk XT® gait analysis can be seen as an objective and consistent tool for assessing the impairment and recovery of locomotor function after severe cervical contusion/compression SCI in rats

Summary

Introduction

Spinal cord injury (SCI), often caused by accidents, typically results in a series of severe physical and psychological health problems for the individual patient as well as in a huge social and economic burden for the society [1]. The cervical region (C1–4) is affected in about 55% of SCI cases, while the most common injury type is contusion and compression of the spinal cord [5,6]. Respiratory complications, remain the primary cause of death after SCI, most likely being related to inadequate pulmonary clearance and subsequent infections [7,8]. Other sequela of SCI such as deficits in motor, sensory, or autonomic function below the injury level are directly related to the primary disruption of the spinal cord. Secondary complications including neuropathic pain, dysfunction of circulatory, respiratory, or bladder control, and loss of muscle tone affect patients in subacute and chronic stages [7,8]

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