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Elevated body swing test after focal cerebral ischemia in rodents: : methodological considerations

Ingberg, Edvin ; Gudjonsdottir, Johanna LU ; Theodorsson, Elvar ; Theodorsson, Annette and Ström, Jakob O (2015) In BMC Neuroscience 16(50).
Abstract
Background

The elevated body swing test (EBST) is a behavioral test used to evaluate experimental stroke in rodents. The basic idea is that when the animal is suspended vertically by the tail, it will swing its head laterally to the left or right depending on lesion side. In a previous study from our lab using the EBST after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo), rats swung contralateral to the infarct day 1 post-MCAo, but ipsilateral day 3 post-MCAo. This shift was unexpected and prompted us to perform the present study. First, the literature was systematically reviewed to elucidate whether a similar shift had been noticed before, and if consensus existed regarding swing direction. Secondly, an experiment was conducted to... (More)
Background

The elevated body swing test (EBST) is a behavioral test used to evaluate experimental stroke in rodents. The basic idea is that when the animal is suspended vertically by the tail, it will swing its head laterally to the left or right depending on lesion side. In a previous study from our lab using the EBST after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo), rats swung contralateral to the infarct day 1 post-MCAo, but ipsilateral day 3 post-MCAo. This shift was unexpected and prompted us to perform the present study. First, the literature was systematically reviewed to elucidate whether a similar shift had been noticed before, and if consensus existed regarding swing direction. Secondly, an experiment was conducted to systematically investigate the suggested behavior. Eighty-three adult male and female Sprague–Dawley rats were subjected to MCAo or sham surgery and the EBST was performed up to 7 days after the lesion.
Results

Both experimentally and through systematic literature review, the present study shows that the direction of biased swing activity in the EBST for rodents after cerebral ischemia can differ and even shift over time in some situations. The EBST curve for females was significantly different from that of males after the same occlusion time (p = 0.023).
Conclusions

This study highlights the importance of adequate reporting of behavioral tests for lateralization and it is concluded that the EBST cannot be recommended as a test for motor asymmetry after MCAo in rats. (Less)
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author
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publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
BMC Neuroscience
volume
16
issue
50
pages
11 pages
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • scopus:84938588066
ISSN
1471-2202
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
5cea5760-1d2e-4c20-8348-ec5c71888189
alternative location
https://bmcneurosci.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12868-015-0189-8#Ack1
date added to LUP
2022-03-29 10:56:55
date last changed
2022-04-25 02:10:55
@article{5cea5760-1d2e-4c20-8348-ec5c71888189,
  abstract     = {{Background<br/><br/>The elevated body swing test (EBST) is a behavioral test used to evaluate experimental stroke in rodents. The basic idea is that when the animal is suspended vertically by the tail, it will swing its head laterally to the left or right depending on lesion side. In a previous study from our lab using the EBST after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo), rats swung contralateral to the infarct day 1 post-MCAo, but ipsilateral day 3 post-MCAo. This shift was unexpected and prompted us to perform the present study. First, the literature was systematically reviewed to elucidate whether a similar shift had been noticed before, and if consensus existed regarding swing direction. Secondly, an experiment was conducted to systematically investigate the suggested behavior. Eighty-three adult male and female Sprague–Dawley rats were subjected to MCAo or sham surgery and the EBST was performed up to 7 days after the lesion.<br/>Results<br/><br/>Both experimentally and through systematic literature review, the present study shows that the direction of biased swing activity in the EBST for rodents after cerebral ischemia can differ and even shift over time in some situations. The EBST curve for females was significantly different from that of males after the same occlusion time (p = 0.023).<br/>Conclusions<br/><br/>This study highlights the importance of adequate reporting of behavioral tests for lateralization and it is concluded that the EBST cannot be recommended as a test for motor asymmetry after MCAo in rats.}},
  author       = {{Ingberg, Edvin and Gudjonsdottir, Johanna and Theodorsson, Elvar and Theodorsson, Annette and Ström, Jakob O}},
  issn         = {{1471-2202}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{08}},
  number       = {{50}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{BMC Neuroscience}},
  title        = {{Elevated body swing test after focal cerebral ischemia in rodents: : methodological considerations}},
  url          = {{https://bmcneurosci.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12868-015-0189-8#Ack1}},
  volume       = {{16}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}