title: Comparison among different approaches for sampling cerebrospinal fluid in rats.
abstract: Two approaches for time-resolved sampling of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in rats were compared regarding performance, reproducibility, and extent of the inevitable trauma caused by the implantation of a sampling tube. Several parameters were checked to evaluate the injury: blood cell contamination of CSF; concentrations in CSF of the cytosolic proteins neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and S-100 (chiefly present in astrocytes); blood-brain barrier leakage of a dye-protein complex; viability of nervous tissue cells as assessed by dye exclusion; light and electron microscopy. In one sampling method, a tube was forced epidurally into the cisterna magna via a hole in the calvarium, consistently damaging the meninges and the nervous tissue. When using the alternative sampling method, the tube was instead affixed to the posterior atlanto-occipital membrane and connected with the cisterna magna via a hole in the membrane. Such a procedure caused negligible damage. Both techniques induced an inflammatory response. We advocate the use of the second approach, i.e., to sample CSF via a hole in the atlanto-occipital membrane, as the method of choice due to its high reproducibility. It is fairly rapid, and associated with a negligible injury.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Y L
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Säljö
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Suneson
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Hansson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier / Q000502:physiology; D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000166:cytology; D002946:Cisterna Magna / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D007120:Immunochemistry; D008581:Meningitis / Q000473:pathology; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D009417:Nerve Tissue / Q000473:pathology; D010751:Phosphopyruvate Hydratase / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D009418:S100 Proteins / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000379:methods*; D013238:Stereotaxic Techniques
chemical_list: D009418:S100 Proteins; D010751:Phosphopyruvate Hydratase