2004; Adhami et al. 2006). Stroke-induced spontaneous gait and gait accuracy deficits demonstrated recovery over the course of the study We evaluated two measures of spontaneous gait after hypoxic–ischemic stroke. The first was horizontal ladder test performance, which measures limb placement errors on a ladder and which we used for identification of the “Large Stroke” group (Fig. 3). The second measure was automated gait analysis using a Catwalk (Noldus) apparatus. In both cases the mouse is walking toward its home cage at a normal speed. Horizontal ladder testing was done on days 1, 4, and 7 and then weekly until day 35 after stroke (Fig. 4a). We examined foot faults with all limbs Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical and found

that the front limb contralateral to the stroke, the left front, was the most reliable to measure. Right front foot faults and bilateral hind limb faults did not change after stroke.

Ladder performance Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical in the “All Stroke” group did worsen after stroke, but was only significant on days 4 and 21 (Fig. 4a). The “Large Stroke” group displayed significantly worse function on all days except 14 and 35. Figure 4 Gait measures demonstrate stroke-induced deficits that recover during the Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical weeks after hypoxic–ischemic stroke. (a) Horizontal ladder testing and statistics. Left front swing speed (b) and stride length (c) from automated gait analysis. Bars, SEM; … Automated gait analysis yielded many measures, most of which demonstrated some changes after stroke. No measure was different between MK-8776 molecular weight groups before

surgery. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical We chose to focus on stride length and swing speed because they displayed statistically significant changes after stroke, and both measures are relevant to clinical functional deficits. Segregation of mice into “Large Stroke” versus “All Stroke” groups was not necessary to see differences on day 12 – both groups were significantly different from Sham on day 12 in both measures (Fig. 4b and c). Swing speed was also impaired on day 26 in the “Large Stroke” group, as was stride length on days 26 and 33. Rotarod reveals poststroke deficits that do not recover after 1 month We next evaluated function on Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical the rotarod, which tests how long a mouse can remain on a rotating rod. In this study we trained mice extensively and only included mice that had learned the task before surgery (latency to fall >250 sec), so we were testing motor recovery and not motor learning. No significant differences were detectable among groups before surgery. We observed a nonstatistically significant decrease Amisulpride in rotarod performance in the “All Stroke” group, but segregating out the “Large Stroke” group yielded significance for all days (Fig. 5a). Mice in the “Large Stroke” group did not demonstrate significant recovery of rotarod ability over the course of the study. Figure 5 Rotarod and EBST testing deficits persist after 1 month. (a) Rotarod testing demonstrated clear deficits after stroke in the Large Stroke group, but nonsignificant deficits in the entire group.