Bozkurt A, Deumens R, Scheffel J, O'Dey D M, Weis J, Joosten E A, Führmann T, Brook G A, Pallua N
Department of Plastic Surgery, Reconstructive and Hand Surgery, Burn Center, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany.
J Neurosci Methods. 2008 Aug 15;173(1):91-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2008.05.020. Epub 2008 Jun 3.
Following peripheral nerve injury repair, improved behavioural outcome may be the most important evidence of functionality of axon regeneration after any repair strategy. A range of behavioural testing paradigms have been developed for peripheral nerve injury research. Complete injury of the adult rat sciatic nerve is frequently used in combination with walking track analysis. Despite its wide-spread use, these walking track analyses are unsuitable for the simultaneous assessment of both dynamic and static gait parameters. Conversely, a novel automated gait analysis system, i.e. CatWalk can simultaneously measure dynamic as well as static gait parameters and, importantly, it's easy to control for the speed of locomotion which can strongly affect gait parameters. In a previous study, CatWalk was already successfully used to examine deficits in both dynamic and static gait parameters using the sciatic nerve lesion model with a 1cm gap characterized by absence of recovery [Deumens R, Jaken RJ, Marcus MA, Joosten EA. The CatWalk gait analysis in assessment of both dynamic and static gait changes after adult rat sciatic nerve resection. J Neurosci Methods 2007;164:120-30]. Using the sciatic nerve crush injury model (validated with the static sciatic index) and a follow-up period of 12 weeks, we now show that CatWalk can also measure behavioural recovery. In particular dynamic gait parameters, coordination measures, and the intensity of paw prints are of interest in detecting recovery as far as these parameters completely return to pre-operative values after crush injury. We conclude that CatWalk can be used as a complementary approach to other behavioural testing paradigms to assess clinically relevant behavioural benefits, with a main advantage that CatWalk demonstrates both static and dynamic gait parameters at the same time.
在周围神经损伤修复后，行为结果的改善可能是任何修复策略后轴突再生功能最重要的证据。已经开发了一系列用于周围神经损伤研究的行为测试范式。成年大鼠坐骨神经的完全损伤经常与行走轨迹分析结合使用。尽管其广泛应用，但这些行走轨迹分析并不适合同时评估动态和静态步态参数。相反，一种新型的自动步态分析系统，即CatWalk，可以同时测量动态和静态步态参数，重要的是，它很容易控制运动速度，而运动速度会强烈影响步态参数。在先前的一项研究中，CatWalk已经成功地用于使用坐骨神经损伤模型（1cm间隙，其特征为无恢复）来检查动态和静态步态参数的缺陷[Deumens R, Jaken RJ, Marcus MA, Joosten EA. The CatWalk gait analysis in assessment of both dynamic and static gait changes after adult rat sciatic nerve resection. J Neurosci Methods 2007;164:120 - 30]。使用坐骨神经挤压损伤模型（通过静态坐骨指数验证）并进行12周的随访，我们现在表明CatWalk也可以测量行为恢复。特别是动态步态参数、协调性测量以及爪印强度在检测恢复方面很有意义，因为这些参数在挤压损伤后完全恢复到术前值。我们得出结论，CatWalk可以作为其他行为测试范式的补充方法来评估临床相关的行为益处，其主要优点是CatWalk可以同时展示静态和动态步态参数。
