Lateral hemisection of the spinal cord at the low thoracic level in rats causes severe deterioration of hindlimb locomotor movements followed by the substantial improvements of locomotor functions. However the rate and the level of this improvement remain disputable. In this study we investigated the time course of locomotor recovery analyzing spatial indices of locomotion obtained with CatWalk Gait Analysis System. The animals started to be tested in the CatWalk System two weeks after the injury, when hindlimb plantar stepping recovered. Within first 2 weeks hindlimb locomotor function recovered substantially, and the analyzed locomotor indices reached plateau about one month after injury. Nevertheless, most of the indices, like speed of locomotion, hindlimb base of support, hindlimb abduction did not reached the level obtained before the injury. Within next few months some of them remained at the same level, but 5 months after the hemisection locomotion again started to deteriorate, as was manifested by decrease of locomotor velocity and increase of hindlimb base of support. This study shows that after lateral hemisection of the spinal cord at the low thoracic level the recovery of locomotor functions is limited and that 5 months after the injury the secondary deterioration of locomotion is observed.
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