Combination of Defined CatWalk Gait Parameters for Predictive Locomotion Recovery in Experimental Spinal Cord Injury Rat Models

An example of CatWalk image captured from below an injured rat. The paws in contact with the glass walkway are indicated with the colored boxes (magenta: right hindpaw; yellow: left forepaw).

Scatter plot of several gait parameters obtained from the individual run data from Study 1. The injured (red) and uninjured (dark gray) animals are denoted by color here. The different shapes in each group represent the different individuals. a, Forepaw swing time and forepaw stride length. b, Forepaw duty cycle and hindpaw BOS. c, Forepaw BOS and number of paw support = [Support_One + 2 × Support_Diagonal + 2 × Support_Girdle + 2 × Support_Lateral + 3 × Support_Three + 4 × Support_Four]/100.

(a, b) Combinations of gait parameters (p_LDA) and BBB scores for each group in Study 1 without treatment (mean ± SEM). (c, d) Treated and untreated pLDA and BBB scores for moderate contusions. (e, f) Treated and untreated pLDA and BBB scores for moderate-severe contusions. UI: uninjured; Veh.Mod.: vehicle moderate SCI; Veh.Mod-Sev.: vehicle moderate-severe SCI; Exp.Mod.: experimental moderate SCI; Exp.Mod-Sev.: experimental moderate severe SCI; Exp.Mod-Sev.: experimental moderate severe SCI; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ####p_{compared with UI} < 0.0001.

(a, b) Combinations of gait parameters (p_LDA) and BBB scores for vehicle and young groups in Studies 2 and 3, respectively (mean ± SEM). (c-d) The Two-way ANOVA in Study 2 shows significant effects on pLDA of both groups (p  = 0.037) and time (p < 0.00001), without significant interaction. In the RI-controlled BBB score (Study 2), significant effects of both groups (p  = 0.003) and time (p < 0.00001) were observed, as well as significant interaction (p  = 0.049). (e-f) The Two-way ANOVA in Study 3 shows significant effect on pLDA of both group (p < 0.00001) and time (p < 0.00001), with significant interaction (p < 0.001). In the BBB score (Study 3), significant effect of time (p < 0.00001) was observed, but no significant effect of group and interaction; *p < 0.05, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001 Prog.: progesterone; Veh.: vehicle.

a, Combinations of gait parameters (p_LDA) of uninjured rats and vehicle SCI rats in Study 2 (S2: Th8 contusion), Study 4 (S4: Th8/9 dorsal hemisection), and Study 5 (S5: C4 bilateral dorsal column lesion). b, Combinations of gait parameters (p_LDA) of vehicle SCI rats in Studies 2 and 4. c, BBB scores of vehicle SCI rats in Studies 2 and 4; mean ± SEM; ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001, ###p_{compared with UI} < 0.001, ####p_{compared with UI} < 0.0001; UI: uninjured; Veh.: vehicle; Cont.: contusion; DH.: dorsal hemisection.