Division of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Soroka Medical Center, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
J Neurosci Methods. 2010 Nov 30;193(2):246-53. doi: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2010.08.026. Epub 2010 Sep 15.
Animal models of cerebral ischemia represent an important contribution to both our understanding of stroke mechanism and the development of new therapies. The technique of MCAO (middle cerebral artery occlusion) via ECA (external carotid artery) occlusion is widely utilized. Disruption of the ECA and its branches leads to impaired mastication and oral intake, post-surgical body weight loss, and poor neurological recovery which can possibly confound one's interpretation of rats' neurological outcome. Here, we developed a novel modified technique for MCAO without ligation or coagulation of the ECA and its branches using an approach via the internal carotid artery (ICA). In our modified technique, we perform an additional fixation of the filament in the ICA which improves the stability of the model and increases the homogeneity in stroke size. Compared with the original MCAO technique via the ECA, our modified technique via the ICA demonstrated decreased variability in the percent infarcted volume and brain edema, as well as a decreased mortality. Additionally, we observed that with our modified technique, rats gained more weight after surgery and there was less initial weight loss after the surgical preparation. Our new approach may serve as an effective model for stroke, and may lead to a better understanding of stoke pathophysiology and to the future development of new drugs and other neuroprotective agents.
动物脑缺血模型是我们深入了解中风机制和开发新疗法的重要贡献。通过颈外动脉（ECA）闭塞进行 MCAO（大脑中动脉闭塞）的技术被广泛应用。ECA 及其分支的破坏会导致咀嚼和口腔摄入受损、手术后体重减轻以及神经恢复不良，这可能会混淆人们对大鼠神经预后的解释。在这里，我们开发了一种新的 MCAO 改良技术，无需结扎或凝固 ECA 及其分支，而是通过颈内动脉（ICA）进行。在我们的改良技术中，我们在 ICA 中对丝进行了额外的固定，从而提高了模型的稳定性并增加了中风大小的均匀性。与原始的 ECA 途径 MCAO 技术相比，我们通过 ICA 的改良技术显示出梗塞体积和脑水肿的百分比变化较小，死亡率降低。此外，我们观察到，使用我们的改良技术，大鼠手术后体重增加，手术准备后初始体重减轻较少。我们的新方法可能成为中风的有效模型，并可能有助于更好地了解中风病理生理学以及未来开发新药物和其他神经保护剂。
