Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to establish an effective robotic assistive stepping pattern of body-weight-supported treadmill training based on a rat spinal cord injury (SCI) model and assess the effect by comparing this with another frequently used assistive stepping pattern. The recorded stepping patterns of both hind limbs of trained intact rats were edited to establish a 30-sec playback normal rat stepping pattern (NRSP). Step features (step length, step height, step number and swing duration), BBB scores, latencies, and amplitudes of the transcranial electrical motor-evoked potentials (tceMEPs) and neurofilament 200 (NF200) expression in the spinal cord lesion area during and after 3 weeks of body-weight-supported treadmill training (BWSTT) were compared in rats with spinal contusion receiving NRSP assistance (NRSPA) and those that received manual assistance (MA). Hind limb stepping performance among rats receiving NRSPA during BWSTT was greater than that among rats receiving MA in terms of longer step length, taller step height, and longer swing duration. Furthermore a higher BBB score was also indicated. The rats in the NRSPA group achieved superior results in the tceMEPs assessment and greater NF200 expression in the spinal cord lesion area compared with the rats in the MA group. These findings suggest NRSPA was an effective assistive pattern of treadmill training compared with MA based on the rat SCI model and this approach could be used as a new platform for animal experiments for better understanding the mechanisms of SCI rehabilitation.