Table 3.
Clinical scoring of mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis
| Clinical score |
Clinical symptoms |
|---|---|
| 0 | Mouse shows no symptoms of disease (asymptomatic) |
| 1 | Mouse has a limp tail (complete flaccidity, absence of curling at the tip) or hind limb weakness (waddling gait, mouse’s hind limbs fall through the top of a wire cage), not both |
| 2 | Mouse has both a limp tail and shows hind limb weakness |
| 3 | Mouse has partial paralysis of the hind limbs (can no longer maintain posture of the rump, but can still move one or both limbs to an extent) |
| 4 | Mouse shows complete hind limb paralysis (complete loss of movement of the hind limbs, all movement is the result of the mouse dragging on the forelimbs)a |
| 5 | Moribund (death caused by EAE), mice are euthanized for humane reasons |
a
Mice at this stage of disease are given soft gel food on the cage floor, long sipper tubes, and daily saline injections to prevent dehydration