Gait analysis methods for rodent models of arthritic disorders: reviews and recommendations

Abstract

Gait analysis is a useful tool to understand behavioral changes in preclinical arthritis models. While observational scoring and spatiotemporal gait parameters are the most widely performed gait analyses in rodents, commercially available systems can now provide quantitative assessments of spatiotemporal patterns. However, inconsistencies remain between testing platforms, and laboratories often select different gait pattern descriptors to report in the literature. Rodent gait can also be described through kinetic and kinematic analyses, but systems to analyze rodent kinetics and kinematics are typically custom made and often require sensitive, custom equipment. While the use of rodent gait analysis rapidly expands, it is important to remember that, while rodent gait analysis is a relatively modern behavioral assay, the study of quadrupedal gait is not new. Nearly all gait parameters are correlated, and a collection of gait parameters is needed to understand a compensatory gait pattern used by the animal. As such, a change in a single gait parameter is unlikely to tell the full biomechanical story; and to effectively use gait analysis, one must consider how multiple different parameters contribute to an altered gait pattern. The goal of this article is to review rodent gait analysis techniques and provide recommendations on how to use these technologies in rodent arthritis models, including discussions on the strengths and limitations of observational scoring, spatiotemporal, kinetic, and kinematic measures. Recognizing rodent gait analysis is an evolving tool, we also provide technical recommendations we hope will improve the utility of these analyses in the future.

Beige FAPs Transplantation Improves Muscle Quality and Shoulder Function After Massive Rotator Cuff Tears

“…Forced treadmill running is a commonly used method for evaluating shoulder function in shoulder injury models . Gait analysis of the injured forelimb correlates with histological parameters of RC injury .…”

Genetic and behavioral characterization of a Kmt2d mouse mutant, a new model for Kabuki Syndrome

“…In the gait analysis, spatial parameters such as the stride length, step length and step width showed the geometric position of the foot prints during mouse locomotion, 27 and they are highly correlated to walking speed. 57 Additionally, it is known that the normal gait pattern for rodents tends to be symmetric; thus, the step length is approximately 50% of the stride length for either the fore-or hindlimbs. 27 The spatial gait pattern changes observed in male bapa mice showed a shorter stride length for the fore-and hindlimbs, a shorter step length for the hindlimbs, and a gait symmetry greater than 0.5.…”

Genome-Wide Association Study and Subsequent Exclusion of ATCAY as a Candidate Gene Involved in Equine Neuroaxonal Dystrophy Using Two Animal Models

“…As the Atcay ji-hes phenotype can be visually determined [17], we evaluated methods to quantify the obvious gait abnormalities. Balance beam, TreadScan [18,34], and horizontal ladder beam [19,32] tests were used to measure balance and coordination of movement. The Atcay hes/hes mice were unable to complete any portion of the balance beam test due to their severe ataxic and dystonic phenotype.…”

“…Previously, gait analysis of Atcay hes/hes and Atcay +/+ mice was performed through manual measurements [17] and rotarod [12,16]. While considering ATCAY as a candidate gene for eNAD/EDM, we additionally sought to refine the phenotyping of the three Atcay ji-hes murine genotypes with Treadscan [18], horizontal ladder beam [19], and balance beam testing.…”