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. 2023 Jan 27;4(1):71-81.
doi: 10.1089/neur.2022.0059. eCollection 2023.

Unintentional Effects from Housing Enhancement Resulting in Functional Improvement in Spinal Cord-Injured Mice

Darlene A Burke  1   2 , Johnny R Morehouse  1   2 , Sujata Saraswat Ohri  1   2 , David S K Magnuson  1   2
Affiliations

Unintentional Effects from Housing Enhancement Resulting in Functional Improvement in Spinal Cord-Injured Mice

Darlene A Burke et al. Neurotrauma Rep. .

Abstract

It is well established that both positive and negative housing conditions of laboratory animals can affect behavioral, biochemical, and physiological responses. Housing enhancements have been shown to have beneficial effects on locomotor outcomes in rodents with spinal cord injury (SCI). Subsequent to an unplanned housing enhancement of the addition of a balcony to home cages by animal care personnel at a research facility, a retrospective analysis of multiple SCI studies was performed to determine whether outcomes differed before (four studies, N = 28) and after (four studies, N = 23) the addition of the balcony. Locomotor and morphological differences were compared after a mild-moderate T9 spinal cord contusion injury in wild-type mice. Post-injury assessments of locomotor function for 6 weeks included Basso Mouse Scale (BMS) and treadmill kinematic assessments (week 6). Balcony-housed mice showed greater improvements not only in basic locomotor functions (weight-supported stepping, balance) compared to those in standard housing, but also surpassed mice in standard housing without the balcony in higher-order locomotor recovery outcomes, including BMS late-stage recovery measures (paw, tail, and trunk indices). Additionally, balcony-housed mice had overall higher BMS scores, consistently attained more BMS subscores, and had better treadmill track width and stride length compared to those with no balcony. The housing enhancement of a balcony led to unforeseen consequences and unexpected higher recovery outcomes compared to mice in standard housing. This retrospective study highlights the importance of housing conditions in the key outcomes of locomotor recovery after incomplete contusive SCIs in mice.

Keywords: BMS; TreadScan kinematics; climbing; enriched housing; locomotor recovery; spinal cord injury.

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Conflict of interest statement

No competing financial interests exist.

Figures

FIG. 1.
FIG. 1.
Side view of a standard mouse cage showing placement of the balcony at one side of the cage (left side) for the balcony group.
FIG. 2.
FIG. 2.
Frequency comparisons of BMS components between the balcony and no balcony groups are shown for locomotor function outcomes of the BMS (A) ankle movement, (B) plantar stepping, (C) trunk stability, (D) tail position, and (E) subscore. *p < 0.05, ***p ≤ 0.005. BMS, Basso Mouse Scale.
FIG. 3.
FIG. 3.
Results of the balcony and no-balcony group comparisons are shown for locomotor function outcomes of (A) BMS subscore (box-plot values = median ±10th and 90th percentiles), (B) forelimb-hindlimb coordination, (C) paw rotation, and (D) kinematic hindlimb rear right and left stride length. Non-parametric ranked correlations show the significant relationships between (E) stride length and SWM in the no-balcony group and (F) rear track width and BMS subscores in the balcony group. *p < 0.05, ***p ≤ 0.005. BMS, Basso Mouse Scale; SWM, spared white matter.
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