Brain Trauma Neuroprotection and Neurorestoration Branch, Center for Military Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA.
J Neurosci Methods. 2013 Jan 15;212(1):1-16. doi: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2012.08.025. Epub 2012 Sep 11.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) results in enduring motor and cognitive dysfunction. Although gait disturbances have been documented among TBI patients, few studies have profiled gait abnormalities in animal models of TBI. We sought to obtain a comprehensive longitudinal analysis of gait function following severe penetrating ballistic-like brain injury (PBBI) in rats. Rats were subjected to either unilateral frontal PBBI, probe insertion alone, or sham surgery. Sensorimotor performance was assessed using the CatWalk automated gait analysis system. Baseline measurements were taken 3 days prior to injury and detailed analysis of gait was performed at 1, 3, 7, 14, and 28 days post-injury. Both PBBI and probe-inserted rats displayed altered static and dynamic gait parameters that were primarily evident during the early (<7 days) post-injury phase and were resolved by 1 month post-injury. PBBI produced more severe deficits compared to probe-alone which were reflected in the number, magnitude, and resolution time of abnormal gait parameters. While altered parameters were detected in all four paws, they were more apparent on the contralateral side. Gait parameters including paw pressure, print area, swing speed, and stride length were significantly decreased whereas stance, swing, and step cycle duration were increased compared to sham. Overall, altered gait patterns detected using the CatWalk system in the PBBI model were injury-severity dependent, resolved at later time points, and appeared similar to those reported in severe TBI patients. These results indicate that the CatWalk may be most useful for neuroprotection studies that focus on the acute/subacute recovery period after TBI.
创伤性脑损伤（TBI）会导致持久的运动和认知功能障碍。尽管 TBI 患者存在步态障碍，但很少有研究对 TBI 动物模型中的步态异常进行描述。我们试图对大鼠严重穿透性弹道样脑损伤（PBBI）后步态功能进行全面的纵向分析。大鼠接受单侧额部 PBBI、探针插入或假手术。使用 CatWalk 自动步态分析系统评估感觉运动性能。基线测量在损伤前 3 天进行，在损伤后 1、3、7、14 和 28 天进行详细的步态分析。PBBI 和探针插入大鼠均显示出改变的静态和动态步态参数，这些参数主要在早期（<7 天）损伤后阶段明显，并在损伤后 1 个月内得到解决。PBBI 与单独探针相比产生更严重的缺陷，这反映在异常步态参数的数量、幅度和解决时间上。虽然在所有四个爪子中都检测到了改变的参数，但在对侧更明显。与假手术相比，爪子压力、打印面积、摆动速度和步幅长度等步态参数明显降低，而站立、摆动和步周期持续时间增加。总体而言，PBBI 模型中使用 CatWalk 系统检测到的异常步态模式与损伤严重程度相关，在较晚的时间点得到解决，并且与严重 TBI 患者报告的模式相似。这些结果表明，CatWalk 可能对专注于 TBI 后急性/亚急性恢复期的神经保护研究最有用。
