Lin Xiao-Jing, Wen Shaonan, Deng Ling-Xiao, Dai Heqiao, Du Xiaolong, Chen Chen, Walker Melissa J, Zhao Ting-Bao, Xu Xiao-Ming
Department of Spinal Cord Injury and Repair, Trauma and Orthopedics Institute of Chinese PLA, 960th Hospital, Joint Logistics Support Force of PLA; Institute of Military Cognition and Brain Sciences, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Academy of Military Sciences; Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Group, Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Department of Neurological Surgery and Goodman Campbell Brain and Spine, Indiana University School of Medicine.
Institute of Military Cognition and Brain Sciences, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Academy of Military Sciences; Beijing Computing Center, Beijing Academy of Science and Technology.
J Vis Exp. 2020 Mar 24(157). doi: 10.3791/57126.
Incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI) often leads to impairments of sensorimotor functions and is clinically the most frequent type of SCI. Human Brown-Séquard syndrome is a common type of incomplete SCI caused by a lesion to one half of the spinal cord which results in paralysis and loss of proprioception on the same (or ipsilesional) side as the injury, and loss of pain and temperature sensation on the opposite (or contralesional) side. Adequate methodologies for producing a spinal cord lateral hemisection (HX) and assessing neurological impairments are essential to establish a reliable animal model of Brown-Séquard syndrome. Although lateral hemisection model plays a pivotal role in basic and translational research, standardized protocols for creating such a hemisection and assessing unilateralized function are lacking. The goal of this study is to describe step-by-step procedures to produce a rat spinal lateral HX at the 9 thoracic (T9) vertebral level. We, then, describe a combined behavior scale for HX (CBS-HX) that provides a simple and sensitive assessment of asymmetric neurological performance for unilateral SCI. The CBS-HX, ranging from 0 to 18, is composed of 4 individual assessments which include unilateral hindlimb stepping (UHS), coupling, contact placing, and grid walking. For CBS-HX, the ipsilateral and contralateral hindlimbs are assessed separately. We found that, after a T9 HX, the ipsilateral hindlimb showed impaired behavior function whereas the contralateral hindlimb showed substantial recovery. The CBS-HX effectively discriminated behavioral functions between ipsilateral and contralateral hindlimbs and detected temporal progression of recovery of the ipsilateral hindlimb. The CBS-HX components can be analyzed separately or in combination with other measures when needed. Although we only provided visual descriptions of the surgical procedures and behavioral assessments of a thoracic HX, the principle may be applied to other incomplete SCIs and at other levels of the injury.
不完全性脊髓损伤（SCI）常导致感觉运动功能障碍，是临床上最常见的SCI类型。人类布朗 - 色夸综合征是不完全性SCI的一种常见类型，由脊髓一侧受损引起，导致损伤同侧（或损伤侧）出现瘫痪和本体感觉丧失，以及对侧（或对侧）出现痛觉和温度觉丧失。建立可靠的布朗 - 色夸综合征动物模型，充分的脊髓侧半横切（HX）方法和评估神经功能障碍的方法至关重要。尽管侧半横切模型在基础研究和转化研究中起着关键作用，但缺乏创建这种半横切和评估单侧功能的标准化方案。本研究的目的是描述在第9胸椎（T9）椎体水平制作大鼠脊髓侧半横切的分步程序。然后，我们描述了一种用于HX的综合行为量表（CBS - HX），该量表为单侧SCI的不对称神经功能表现提供了简单而灵敏的评估。CBS - HX范围为0至18，由4项个体评估组成，包括单侧后肢迈步（UHS）、耦合、接触放置和网格行走。对于CBS - HX，分别评估同侧和对侧后肢。我们发现，在T9 HX后，同侧后肢行为功能受损，而对侧后肢显示出明显恢复。CBS - HX有效地区分了同侧和对侧后肢的行为功能，并检测到同侧后肢恢复的时间进程。CBS - HX的各个组成部分可根据需要单独分析或与其他测量方法结合使用。尽管我们仅提供了胸椎HX手术过程和行为评估的视觉描述，但该原理可应用于其他不完全性SCI及其他损伤水平。
