title: Strapping the spinal cord: an innovative experimental model of CNS injury in rats.
abstract: Experimental models of spinal cord (SC) lesion are essential for understanding a few of the primary and secondary mechanisms of injury and functional recovery of the central nervous system (CNS). We have developed an experimental model of SC injury in adult rats (n=32), that involves the use of a device (SC-STRAPPER) that straps the SC and promotes gradual and controlled SC injury similar to clinical compressive SC injuries. SC strapping is a less-invasive procedure in comparison to other SC injury models, and it performs compression with smaller infection risk and undetectable paravertebral or vertebral lesions. The survival of the rats was 100%, minimizing the suffering of the animals. We have analyzed the histopathological changes that occur during experimental SC compression, as well as the immunohistochemical labeling for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). Animals survived for 21 days being thereafter anesthetized and perfused with aldehydes. SC lesions were associated with motor deficits and local increase in GFAP immunolabeling proportionate to the severity of the compression. This experimental model represents a potential contribution for neuroscientific research, providing a low-cost and rather simple system of controllable and reproducible SC experimental damage.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Anatomia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Elizabete Sant'Anna
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: da Costa
authors.forename: Antonia Lima
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.forename: Ana Maria Blanco
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.forename: Bernardo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: De-Ary-Pires
authors.forename: Mário Ary
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Pires-Neto
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: de Ary-Pires
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000293:injuries*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004824:Epidural Space; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D006614:Hindlimb / Q000294:innervation / Q000502:physiology; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008026:Ligation; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009416:Nerve Regeneration / Q000502:physiology; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013117:Spinal Cord Compression / Q000473:pathology; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein