Establishment of Central Cord Syndrome Model in C57BL/6J Mouse

Animal models of central cord syndrome (CCS) could substantially benefit preclinical research. Identifiable anatomical pathways can give minimally invasive exposure approaches and reduce extra injury to experimental animals during operation, enabling the maintenance of consistent and stable anatomical morphology during experiments to minimize behavioral and histological differences between individuals to improve the reproducibility of experiments. In this study, the C6 level spinal cord was exposed using a spinal cord injury coaxial platform (SCICP) and combination with a minimally invasive technique. With the assistance of a vertebral stabilizator, we fixed the vertebrae and compressed the spinal cords of C57BL/6J mice with 5 g/mm² and 10 g/mm² weights with SCICP to induce different degrees of C6 spinal cord injury. In line with the previous description of CCS, the results reveal that the lesion in this model is concentrated in the gray matter around the central cord, enabling further research into CCS. Finally, histological results are provided as a reference for the readers.