An Alternative Model of Laser-Induced Stroke in the Motor Cortex of Rats

Matthew Boyko†Email author View ORCID ID profile,
Ruslan Kuts†,
Benjamin F. GruenbaumEmail author,
Philip Tsenter,
Julia Grinshpun,
Dmitry Frank,
Vladislav Zvenigorodsky,
Israel Melamed,
Evgeni Brotfain and
Alexander Zlotnik

†Contributed equally

Biological Procedures Online201921:9

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12575-019-0097-x

Received: 1 February 2019
Accepted: 2 May 2019
Published: 16 May 2019

Abstract

Background

A common experimental rodent model for stroke includes induction by a technique in which middle cerebral artery is transiently (MCAO-t) or permanently (MCAO-p) occluded by catheterization. However, this model has prominent disadvantages which consist of the high variability of localization and size of the ischemic area, cases of intracranial hemorrhage and high mortality. Furthermore, the duration of a single MCAO operation takes about thirty minutes and requires highly trained staff. In this article, we propose an alternative method, which is based on laser-induced stroke in the motor cortex. In our research, we compared the original MCAO-p and MCAO-t models and a novel laser model.

Results

Compared with the impact of original MCAO-p and MCAO-t technique on brain tissue, the minimally invasive laser model demonstrated a decrease in: variability in body temperature, percent of infarcted volume, blood brain barrier breakdown and brain edema, as well as a prominent decrease of mortality and intracranial hemorrhage. Among other findings of this article, it can be noted that damage to the brain tissue in laser groups occurred only in the region of the motor cortex, without involving the striatal area.

Conclusions

The data presented in this paper show that the model of laser irradiation can serve as an effective method of inducible brain cortical infarction and may lead to a better understanding of the pathophysiology of ischemic stroke and the future development of new drugs and other neuro-protective agents.