Bervar M
Department for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Maribor General Hospital, Ljubljanska ul. 5, Maribor 2000, Slovenia.
J Neurosci Methods. 2000 Oct 30;102(2):109-16. doi: 10.1016/s0165-0270(00)00281-8.
The rat sciatic nerve is a well-established animal model for the study of recovery from peripheral nerve injuries. Footprint analysis is the most widely used non-invasive method of measuring functional recovery after injury in this model. We describe a new alternative video analysis of standing (or static footprint video analysis) to assess functional loss following injury to the rat sciatic nerve, during animal standing or periodic rest on a flat transparent surface. We found good correlation between video recording during standing and dynamic ink track footprint parameter measurements for both 1-5 and injured 2-4 toe spreads only. Reproducibility for these three parameters was also better using the video method. Uninjured 2-4 toe spread by video showed a poor correlation and similar reproducibility as compared with ink. However, both print length parameters measured by video had poorer correlation and greater variability, particularly the print length factor (PLF) was weakly correlated with that determined by ink. Contribution of the footprint factors on the estimated functional loss has also changed in conditions during standing. It was most prominent for the 1-5 toe spread factor (TSF), near marginal for the 2-4 or intermediary toe spread factor (ITF), and weak, statistically insignificant for the PLF. Thus, the introduction of a new functional loss index, or so-called static sciatic index (SSI), and its estimating formula was mandatory. Moreover, using a simple ratio of injured/uninjured 1-5 video toe spread as a substitute for the SSI, we could achieve considerable simplification of the method without any significant loss of accuracy. Our video analysis of standing is technically easier to perform than the corresponding footprint video analysis during walking, but still preserves all advantages of video versus conventional ink track method, i.e. there are few non-measurable footprints, better repeatability, high accuracy and more precise quantification of the degree of functional loss after sciatic nerve injury in the rat.
大鼠坐骨神经是研究周围神经损伤恢复情况的成熟动物模型。足迹分析是该模型中用于测量损伤后功能恢复的最广泛使用的非侵入性方法。我们描述了一种新的用于评估大鼠坐骨神经损伤后功能丧失的站立视频分析方法（即静态足迹视频分析），该方法是在动物站立于平坦透明表面或周期性休息时进行的。我们发现，仅对于1 - 5趾展和损伤后的2 - 4趾展，站立时的视频记录与动态墨汁轨迹足迹参数测量之间具有良好的相关性。使用视频方法时，这三个参数的可重复性也更好。通过视频测量的未受伤的2 - 4趾展与墨汁测量结果的相关性较差，且可重复性相似。然而，通过视频测量的两个印迹长度参数的相关性较差且变异性更大，特别是印迹长度因子（PLF）与墨汁测量结果的相关性较弱。在站立状态下，足迹因子对估计功能丧失的贡献也发生了变化。对于1 - 5趾展因子（TSF）最为显著，对于2 - 4趾展或中间趾展因子（ITF）接近边缘，而对于PLF则较弱且无统计学意义。因此，引入一种新的功能丧失指数，即所谓的静态坐骨神经指数（SSI）及其估计公式是必要的。此外，使用损伤/未损伤的1 - 5视频趾展的简单比值替代SSI，我们可以在不显著损失准确性的情况下，使方法得到相当大的简化。我们的站立视频分析在技术上比行走时相应的足迹视频分析更容易进行，但仍保留了视频相对于传统墨汁轨迹方法的所有优点，即不可测量的足迹较少、重复性更好、准确性高以及能更精确地量化大鼠坐骨神经损伤后的功能丧失程度。
