Preparation and evaluation of a spinal cord injury model in adult zebrafish

Objective: To establish a model of spinal cord injury(SCI) in adult zebrafish. Methods: Adult zebrafish were randomly divided into normal group, sham group and SCI group. The SCI group underwent complete spinal cord transection operation, the sham group only exposed zebrafish spinal cord of zebrafish without cutting it, and the normal group did not do special treatment. Nerve regeneration was assessed by testing the ability to swim freely and performing anterograde axon tracing in post-treated zebrafish. Results: There was no significant difference in the average distance of 5-minute swimming path between the sham group and the normal group(P>0.05), but the mean distance of 5-minute swimming path in week 6 was significantly increased in zebrafish in the SCI group compared with week 1(P<0.05). Anterograde nerve tracing showed observable axonal recovery in zebrafish in the SCI group 2 weeks after injury. Conclusion: Adult zebrafish have significant SCI recovery ability,and the adult zebrafish SCI model established in this experiment is mature and easy to replicate, and can be applied to SCI related research.