Name: Video: Surgical Technique for Cerebral Ischemia Induction in Rat Models to Study Brain Injury
Uploaded: 2024-07-05T14:40:00
Description: 40 Views. Surgical Technique for Cerebral Ischemia Induction in Rat Models to Study Brain Injury

surgical technique for cerebral ischemia induction in rat models to study brain injury

Single-Step Surgery for Inducing Cerebral Ischemic Coma in Rats

Ischemic brain injury is the most common brain injury in clinical practice, accounting for approximately 75% of cerebrovascular disease cases. Ischemia can lead to severe secondary brain injuries and diseases1,2, and coma is the most severe symptom caused by ischemic hypoxic brain injury. It is also the final pathway for many critical conditions3. Coma is a critical and severe illness in clinical practice that is difficult to manage4. The longer the coma lasts, the greater the potential danger. Prompt awakening is the primary goal in preventing the deterioration and progression of the condition. Although naloxone injection has a wide range of clinical applications in promoting wakefulness, it still has some side effects5. Therefore, the development of safe and effective wakefulness-promoting drugs is an urgent problem that needs to be addressed. Establishing a simple and easy-to-operate brain ischemic coma model is essential for elucidating the pathogenesis of ischemic coma and for drug development6,7,8.
The purpose of this study is to introduce a model of inducing global ischemic coma through electrocoagulation of bilateral vertebral arteries (VA) and temporary ligation of bilateral common carotid arteries (CCA), which is simple and user-friendly for novices. The previous protocol involved exposing the bilateral pterygoid foramen of the first posterior cervical vertebra during the first operation and electrically burning the pterygoid foramen to block the bilateral VAs. A second operation was performed 24 h later to induce total ischemic coma by ligation of the bilateral CCAs9,10,11,12. However, due to invisibility, there is a risk of incomplete electrocoagulation, bleeding, brainstem, and spinal cord injury, as well as a prolonged experimental period. Therefore, it is necessary to address these issues.
Here, we present an improved method for modeling ischemic coma. The main procedure involves making a median anterior neck incision, performing electrical resection of the bilateral VAs under visual conditions, and briefly ligating the bilateral CCAs during a single operation to block the blood supply to the entire brain, causing rapid electroencephalogram (EEG) inhibition and leading to coma. This method also induces a brief continuous coma after reperfusion. This procedure is easy to perform, novice-friendly, and reduces the risk of secondary trauma infection in animals, thereby shortening the experimental period.
The protocol is suitable for the study of global ischemic coma caused by cardiac arrest. It is also ideal for the study of ischemic dementia, mainly because the hippocampal brain area is extremely sensitive to ischemia; thus, transient cerebral ischemia can lead to damage or even loss of hippocampal neurons13, resulting in cognitive dysfunction. Therefore, the protocol can provide a reference for practitioners studying cerebral ischemia, ischemic coma, and ischemic dementia.

Author Spotlight: Enhancing Cerebral Ischemia Research with a Simplified Rat Model

Cerebral Ischemic Coma Model Induced by Modified Four-Vessel Occlusion

Surgical Technique for Cerebral Ischemia Induction in Rat Models to Study Brain Injury

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Research

JoVE Journal

Medicine

40 Views. Surgical Technique for Cerebral Ischemia Induction in Rat Models to Study Brain Injury

Video: Surgical Technique for Cerebral Ischemia Induction in Rat Models to Study Brain Injury

Coma caused by cerebral ischemia is the most serious complication of cerebral ischemia. Four-vessel occlusion can establish a cerebral ischemic coma model for disease research and drug development. However, the commonly used four-vessel occlusion method mainly involves inserting an electrocoagulation pen into the bilateral pterygoid foramen of the first cervical vertebra behind the neck to electrocoagulate the vertebral arteries. This process carries the risk of incomplete electrocoagulation, bleeding, and damage to the brainstem and spinal cord. Twenty-four hours after surgery, re-anesthetized rats undergo carotid artery ligation in front of the neck. Two surgeries expose the rats to a higher risk of infection and increase the experimental period. In this study, during a single surgical procedure, an anterior cervical incision was used to locate the key site where the vertebral artery penetrates the first cervical vertebra. The bilateral vertebral arteries were electrocauterized under visual conditions, while the bilateral common carotid arteries were separated to place loose knots. When the limbs of the rats began twitching, the bilateral common carotid arteries were quickly ligated to induce ischemic coma. This method can avoid the risk of infection caused by two surgical operations and is easy to perform with a high success rate, providing a useful reference for relevant practitioners.

This protocol describes the process for inducing a cerebral ischemic coma model using a modified four-vessel occlusion method.

Coma caused by cerebral ischemia is the most serious complication of cerebral ischemia. Four-vessel occlusion can establish a cerebral ischemic coma model ...