Gait Assessment of Pain and Analgesics: Comparison of the DigiGait™ and CatWalk™ Gait Imaging Systems.
Investigation of pain requires measurements of nociceptive sensitivity and other pain-related behaviors. Recent studies have indicated the superiority of gait analysis over traditional evaluations (e.g., skin sensitivity and sciatic function index [SFI]) in detecting subtle improvements and deteriorations in animal models. Here, pain-related gait parameters, whose criteria include (1) alteration in pain models, (2) correlation with nociceptive threshold, and (3) normalization by analgesics, were identified in representative models of neuropathic pain (spared nerve injury: coordination data) and inflammatory pain (intraplantar complete Freund's adjuvant: both coordination and intensity data) in the DigiGait™ and CatWalk™ systems. DigiGait™ had advantages in fixed speed (controlled by treadmill) and dynamic SFI, while CatWalk™ excelled in intrinsic velocity, intensity data, and high-quality 3D images. Insights into the applicability of each system may provide guidance for selecting the appropriate gait imaging system for different animal models and optimization for future pain research.
['Xu|Yu|Y|', 'Tian|Na-Xi|NX|', 'Bai|Qing-Yang|QY|', 'Chen|Qi|Q|', 'Sun|Xiao-Hong|XH|', 'Wang|Yun|Y|http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4357-8166']
D000700:Analgesics D000818:Animals D005620:Freund's Adjuvant D005684:Gait D000077107:Gait Analysis D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted D007249:Inflammation D008297:Male D009437:Neuralgia D010146:Pain D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Analgesic DigiGait™ CatWalk™ Gait analysis Neuropathic pain Inflammatory pain