Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 5
Brain Ischemic Injury in Rodents: The Protective
Effect of EPO
Annelise Letourneur , Edwige Petit , Simon Roussel , Omar Touzani ,
and Myriam Bernaudin
Abstract
Animal models constitute an indispensable tool to investigate human pathology. Here we describe the
procedure to induce permanent and transient cerebral ischemia in the mouse and the rat. The model of
transient occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) is performed by the insertion of an occlusive
filament until the origin of the MCA while the permanent occlusion described in the mice is performed by
a distal electrocoagulation of the MCA. Those models allow evaluating the efficiency of therapeutic strat-
egy of ischemia from tissular aspect to behavioral and cognitive impairment assessment. They were widely
used in the literature to evaluate the efficiency of different drugs including the cytokines and especially
erythropoietin (EPO) or its derivatives.
Key words
Ischemia, Neuroprotection, Middle cerebral artery occlusion, Neurological deficits,
Stroke, Cytokines
1
Introduction
Stroke is the third most common cause of death after heart diseases
and cancer and is the first cause of adult long-term disability in
developed countries. The very high prevalence of stroke, the lack
of an appropriate therapy, and the high cost of stroke burden make
this pathology a social concern (
1, 2
). Furthermore, the burden of
this pathology is growing worldwide, typically related to an increase
in cardiovascular risk factors and also because of the increasing age
of the population (
3-5
).
A stroke corresponds to a disturbance in the blood supply to the
brain and can be classified as hemorrhagic (15% of cases) or ischemic
(85% of cases). The latter can be thrombotic or embolic.
Stroke results, in the worst case, in death, but most often it
causes motor, sensorial, and cognitive impairments and patients
surviving stroke often require institutionalization.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search