Pre-Chiasmatic, Single Injection of Autologous Blood to Induce Experimental Subarachnoid Hemorrhage in a Rat Model

Summary

Subarachnoid hemorrhage continues to carry a high burden of mortality and morbidity in man. To facilitate further research into the condition and its pathophysiology, a pre-chiasmatic, single injection model is presented.

Abstract

Despite advances in treatment over the last decades, subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) continues to carry a high burden of morbidity and mortality, largely afflicting a fairly young population. Several animal models of SAH have been developed to investigate the pathophysiological mechanisms behind SAH and to test pharmacological interventions. The pre-chiasmatic, single injection model in the rat presented in this article is an experimental model of SAH with a predetermined blood volume. Briefly, the animal is anesthetized, intubated, and kept under mechanical ventilation. Temperature is regulated with a heating pad. A catheter is placed in the tail artery, enabling continuous blood pressure measurement as well as blood sampling. The atlantooccipital membrane is incised and a catheter for pressure recording is placed in the cisterna magna to enable intracerebral pressure measurement. This catheter can also be used for intrathecal therapeutic interventions. The rat is placed in a stereotaxic frame, a burr hole is drilled anteriorly to the bregma, and a catheter is inserted through the burr hole and placed just anterior to the optic chiasm. Autologous blood (0.3 mL) is withdrawn from the tail catheter and manually injected. This results in a rise of intracerebral pressure and a decrease of cerebral blood flow. The animal is kept sedated for 30 min and given subcutaneous saline and analgesics. The animal is extubated and returned to its cage. The pre-chiasmatic model has a high reproducibility rate and limited variation between animals due to the pre-determined blood volume. It mimics SAH in humans making it a relevant model for SAH research.

Introduction

Non-traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a form of stroke, representing around 5% of all cases. The most common cause of non-traumatic SAH is the sudden rupture of an aneurysm (aSAH), which accounts for 85% of SAHs. Other causes include the rupture of an arterio-venous malformation, coagulopathies, and rupture of veins in perimesencephalic hemorrhage¹. The incidence rate is 9 per 100,000 person-years with mortality around one in three and another third requiring the support of daily living following SAH^2,3.

Following initial stabilization and diagnosis ....

Protocol

This procedure is done in accordance with the European Union's Directive 2010/63/EU regarding the protection of animals used for scientific purposes and approved by the Danish Animal Experiments Inspectorate (license no. 2016-15-0201-00940). Surgery is performed using aseptic technique to the widest extent possible, including sterile instruments, gloves, catheters, and sutures. The study used male and female Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 230-350 g, group housed in 12-h light/dark cycle, with constant temperature of 22 °C (± 2 °C), and humidity of 55% (± 10%). The animals are provided with standard chow and water ad libitum. The animals are ....

Results

Women have an increased risk of aSAH compared to men. Despite this, male rodents are primarily used in experiments due to possible bias from heterogeneity of estrus cycle in females. The representative results presented here are from a recent publication comparing female and male rats, confirming that the model produces similar results in female animals compared to male²¹. The study included 34 female Sprague-Dawley rats (18 SAHs and 16 shams). Shams did not have the spinal needle descended to the.......

Discussion

The pre-chiasmatic single injection model of SAH mimics several important elements of human SAH, including the spike in ICP, reduction of CBF, transient global ischemia, upregulation of neuroinflammatory markers, and CVS^{14,15,16,18,19,20}. The ICP-probe was also used as a port for intrathecal administration (

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
16 G peripheral vein catheter	BD Venflon	393229	Needle shortened, distal 1 cm curved. Wings removed
Anesthesia bell/ chamber	Unknown
Blood gas analyzer	Radiometer	ABL80
Blood pressure (BP) monitor	Adinstruments	ML117	Connects to Powerlab
Curved forceps, 12 cm x 3	F.S.T	11001-12	For anesthesia
Cylindrical pillow, 28 cm x 4 cm	Homemade		Made from surgical towels
Data acquisition hardware	Adinstruments	ML870 Powerlab
Data acquistion software	Adinstruments	LabChart 6.0
Drill	KMD	1189
Drill controller	Silfradent	300 IN
Flexible light	Schott	KL200
Heating pad	Minco	1135
Hypodermic needle, 20 G	KD Medical	301300	Connects to stereotaxic frame
ICP monitor	Adinstruments	ML117	Connects to Powerlab
Isoflurane vaporizer	Ohmeda	TEC3
Laptop	Lenovo	T410
Laser doppler monitor	Adinstruments	ML191
Laser doppler probe	Oxford Optronics	MSF100XP	Connects to laser doppler monitor
Needle holder, 13 cm	F.S.T	12001-13	For anesthesia
Precision syringe, 0.025 mL	Hamilton	547407
Stereotaxic frame	Kopf Instruments	M900
Surgical microscope	Carl Zeiss	F170
Suture needle	Allgaier	1245	For anesthesia
Temperaure controller	CWE,INC.	TC-1000
Transducer x 2	Adinstruments	MLT0699	Connects to BP and ICP monitor
Ventilator	Ugo Basile	7025
Veterinary clipper	Aesculap	GT421
3-pronged Blair retractor, 13.5 cm	Agnthos	17022--13
Blunt Alm retractor	F.S.T	17008-07
Curved forceps, 12 cm x 2	F.S.T	11001-12
Needle holder, 13 cm	F.S.T	12001-13
Straight Dumont forceps, 11 cm	F.S.T	11252-00
Straight Halsted-Mosquito hemostat x 2	F.S.T	13008-12
Straight Iris scissor, 9 cm	F.S.T	14090-09
Straight Vannas scissor, 10.5 cm	F.S.T	15018-10
Absorpable swabs	Kettenbach	31603
Black silk thread, 4-0, 5 x 15 cm	Vömel	14757
Bone wax	Aesculap	1029754
Carbomer eye gel 2 mg/g	Paranova
Cotton swab	Heinz Herenz	WA-1
Cotton tipped applicator x 4	Selefa	120788
Hypodermic needle, 23 G x2	KD Medical	900284	Connects to stopcock. Remove distal end
Hypodermic needle, 23 G x3	KD Medical	900284	Remove distal end. 2 connects to stopcock, 1 to syringe
ICP probe:	Homemade		Made of the following:
Polythene tubing, 20 mm	Smiths medical	800/100/200	Inner diameter (ID): 0.58 mm, Outer diameter (OD): 0.96 mm.
Silicone tubing, 10 mm	Fisher	15202710	ID: 0.76 mm, OD: 2.4 mm.
Silicone tubing, 2 mm	Fisher	11716513	ID: 1.0 mm, OD: 3.0 mm.
Micro hematocrit tubes	Brand	7493 11
OP-towel, 45 cm x75 cm	Mölnlycke	800430
PinPort adapter, 22 G	Instech	PNP3F22
PinPort injector	Instech	PNP3M
Polythene tubing, 2 x 20 cm	Smiths medical	800/100/200	Connects to syringe. ID: 0.58 mm, OD: 0.96 mm.
Rubberband	Unknown
Scalpel, 10 blade	Kiato	23110
Spinalneedle, 25 G x 3.5''	Braun	5405905-01
Stopcock system, Discofix x 2	Braun	16494C	Connects to transducer
Suture, 4-0, monofil, non-resorbable x 3	Ethicon	EH7145H
Syringe, 1 mL	BD Plastipak	1710023
Syringe, luer-lock, 10 mL x 4	BD Plastipak	305959	Connects to transducer
Tissue adhesive glue	3M	1469SB
0.5% Chlorhexidine spirit	Faaborg Pharma	210918
Carprofen 50 mg/mL	ScanVet	43715	Diluted 1:10
Isoflurane	Baxter
Isotonic saline	Amgros	16404
Lidocaine-Adrenaline 10 mg/5 µg/mL	Amgros	16318