Establishment of novel technical methods for evaluating brain edema and lesion volume in stroked rats: A standardization of measurement procedures

•We demonstrated the efficiency of our MRI protocol for clinical scanner to evaluate infarct zone and edema in stroked rats.•Our results suggest that a clinical scanner with high accuracy measure an infarct zone and edema after an stroke in rats.•The results of evaluation of a clinical scanner stron...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Brain research 2019-09, Vol.1718, p.12-21
Main Authors: Boyko, Matthew, Zvenigorodsky, Vladislav, Grinshpun, Julia, Shiyntum, Honore N., Melamed, Israel, Kutz, Ruslan, Shelef, Ilan, Brotfain, Evgeni, Frank, Dmitry, Zlotnik, Alexander
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal model
Brain edema
Lesion volume
Magnetic resonance imaging
Stroke
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Summary:•We demonstrated the efficiency of our MRI protocol for clinical scanner to evaluate infarct zone and edema in stroked rats.•Our results suggest that a clinical scanner with high accuracy measure an infarct zone and edema after an stroke in rats.•The results of evaluation of a clinical scanner strongly correlated with measures achieved via histological examinations.•We also evaluated two methods for determining brain edema in stroked rats and found no significant differences between them. Stroke plays a role in high morbidity and mortality. Deciphering its mechanisms and pathophysiology is critical for the creation of new drugs and therapies. Most of the previous animal models of stroke, aimed at identifying the extent and location of brain injury following stroke, require animal sacrifice, which, besides ethical considerations, also negates the ability for follow up studies with the same rats. Because of these failures, the use of clinical magnetic resonance scanners for evaluating small animal models has been increasing. Magnetic resonance imaging scanners used particularly for small-bore animals are eligible for use in high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging of rodent brains. However, high costs and scarcity factor heavily in the rare availability of these scanners. In our investigation, we sought to establish a unitary magnetic resonance imaging protocol for stroke assessment in rats. We made use of a 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging clinical scanner, as well as another clinical equipment, with the purpose of increasing its reproducibility. The results of inquest validated a new magnetic resonance imaging protocol, comparing a magnetic resonance imaging-measured infarcted zone to the “gold standard” of histological examination. We carried out the experimental procedure on a 3 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging clinical scanner using a conventional eight-channel receive-only coil. The two methods produced remarkable quantitative and qualitative correlations between them. Conclusively, we showed the clinical magnetic resonance imaging scanner to be a high-precision and sensitive image analysis instrument for evaluating both the infarct zone and the brain edema in a stroke experimental rat model.
ISSN:0006-8993
1872-6240
DOI:10.1016/j.brainres.2019.04.022