Background and Purpose:
Longitudinal imaging studies in stroke demonstrated that infarct development is a dynamic process and it matures over several days, even weeks depending on the severity of stroke. However, due to high cost and multiple exposure of anesthesia associated with repeated imaging, infarct volume has been typically measured at a fixed time point in preclinical studies, which prevent further assessment of behaviors during stroke recovery. In identifying a non-invasive physiological parameter that predicts the extent of stroke-induced brain injury, the study investigated whether acute body weight loss predicts the extent of brain injury and swelling.
Methods:
C57 male mice (10-12 wk old, 25-30 gr) were subjected to the proximal middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion for 30 min. Body weight was recorded daily. Infarct volume corrected with swelling (IVInd) and percent hemispheric swelling (%SW) were determined at 1, 3 and 7d after MCAO. In a retrospective study, we analyzed correlations between 3d %body weight reduction (%BWred) and stroke outcomes (IVInd & %SW) in C57 male animals that were subjected to MCAO by 3 different individuals over 8 years (n=91-96).
Results:
Stroke induced acute BW loss (%BWred; 1d, 88.9±3.3; 3d, 84.5±8.6; 5d, 86.8±10.6; 7d, 88.9±8.9). Correlation analyses in the post-ischemic time points showed IVind and %SW were significantly correlated with only at 3d BW reduction, but not 1d and 7d (Fig.1). A retrospective analysis in C57 mice also showed a significant correlation between 3d %BWred and IVInd & %SW (Fig.2).
Conclusions:
The study showed that acute post-stroke BWred is a simple and suitable index to predict the extent of stroke injury in C57 mice. Whether the prediction can be generalized across different strains and in comorbid conditions warrant further investigation.
Marked Protection by Moderate Hypothermia after Experimental Traumatic Brain Injury
