title: An improved version of embolic model of brain ischemic injury in the rat.
abstract: A modified version of focal embolic stroke model has been developed in rats. Ischemic injury was induced by injection of a pre-formed clot into the middle cerebral artery (MCA). In the first series of experiments, the model was validated. Embolizing a pre-formed clot resulted in an infarction in the territory irrigated by the MCA. At 48 h after embolization, 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining showed that infarction volume was 42.1+/-15.6% (mean+/-S.D.) when 5 microl clot was injected (n=8) and 28.4+/-8.6% in the animals received 3.5 microl clot (n=8). The infarction volume between these two groups showed a significant difference (P<0.05). In the second series of experiments, the natural dissolution of the clot in the MCA was studied. Five min after embolization (n=6), clots were observed in the MCA of all the animals. Clots in the MCA were seen in 68 and 29% of the animals at 1 and 3 h, respectively, after embolization. These results suggest that the procedure described here produces a reliable and reproducible ischemic injury. The clots injected were dissolved in the MCA in relatively short period of time. The model shows a close similarity to thromboembolic stroke in human, and it provides a useful tool to investigate mechanisms and test thrombolytic agents in ischemic brain injury.
authors.affiliation: The Department of Medicine, Division of Neurology, 533 HMRC, Neurology Laboratory, University of Alberta, AB T6G 2S2, Edmonton, Canada. chenxu@ualberta.ca
authors.forename: C X
authors.initials: CX
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shuaib
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001777:Blood Coagulation / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D020244:Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D020768:Middle Cerebral Artery / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000601:surgery*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D015996:Survival Rate; D013917:Thrombin / Q000494:pharmacology; D013997:Time Factors; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D013917:Thrombin