The long-term adaptations to microgravity and other spaceflight challenges within the confines of a spacecraft, and readaptations to weight-bearing upon reaching a destination, are unclear. While post-flight gait change in astronauts have been well documented and reflect multi-system deficits, no data from rodents have been collected. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate gait changes in response to spaceflight. A prospective collection of gait data was collected on 3 groups of mice: those who spent~35 days in orbit (FLIGHT) aboard the International Space Station (ISS); a ground-based control with the same habitat conditions as ISS (Ground Control; GC); and a vivarium control with typical rodent housing conditions (VIV). Pre-flight and post-flight gait measurements were conducted utilizing an optimized and portable gait analysis system (DigiGait, Mouse Specifics, Inc). The total data acquisition time for gait patterns of FLIGHT and control mice was 1.5–5 min/mouse, allowing all 20 mice per group to be assessed in less than an hour. Patterns of longitudinal gait changes were observed in the hind limbs and the forelimbs of the FLIGHT mice after ~35 days in orbit; few differences were observed in gait characteristics within the GC and VIV controls from the initial to the final gait assessment, and between groups. For FLIGHT mice, 12 out of 18 of the evaluated gait characteristics in the hind limbs were significantly changed, including: stride width variability; stride length and variance; stride, swing, and stance duration; paw angle and area at peak stance; and step angle, among others. Gait characteristics that decreased included stride frequency, and others. Moreover, numerous forelimb gait characteristics in the FLIGHT mice were changed at post-flight measures relative to pre-flight. This rapid DigiGait gait measurement tool and customized spaceflight protocol is useful for providing preliminary insight into how spaceflight could affect multiple systems in rodents in which deficits are reflected by altered gait characteristics.

目前尚不清楚对航天器范围内的微重力和其他航天挑战的长期适应性，以及到达目的地时对承重的重新适应。尽管已经有充分的文件记录了宇航员飞行后步态的变化并反映出多系统缺陷，但尚未收集到啮齿动物的数据。因此，本研究的目的是评估响应太空飞行的步态变化。前瞻性收集了3组小鼠的步态数据：国际空间站（ISS）的在轨飞行时间约35天（FLIGHT）的小鼠；具有与ISS相同的栖息地条件的地面控制（地面控制； GC）；以及具有典型啮齿动物住房条件（VIV）的vi体控制。飞行前和飞行后步态测量是使用优化的便携式步态分析系统（DigiGait，Mouse Specifics，Inc）进行的。FLIGHT和对照小鼠的步态模式的总数据采集时间为1.5-5分钟/小鼠，从而每组可在不到一个小时的时间内评估所有20只小鼠。在飞行约35天后，在FLIGHT小鼠的后肢和前肢中观察到了纵向步态变化的模式。从最初的步态评估到最终的步态评估以及各组之间，在GC和VIV对照中的步态特征几乎没有观察到差异。对于FLIGHT小鼠，后肢的18种步态特征中有12种发生了显着变化，包括：步幅变化；步长和方差；大步，挥杆和站立时间；脚掌角度和高峰姿势面积; 和步距角等等。步态下降的特征包括步幅频率等。而且，在飞行后的测量中，飞行前小鼠的许多前肢步态特征都与飞行前相比有所改变。这种快速的DigiGait步态测量工具和自定义的航天协议可用于初步了解航天如何影响啮齿动物的多个系统，这些系统的步态特征反映出缺陷。