Abstract
In order to reproduce chronic cerebral hypoperfusion as it occurs in human aging and Alzheimer's disease, we introduced permanent, bilateral occlusion of the common carotid arteries (BCCAO) in rats (Farkas et al, 2007). Here, we induced BCCAO in two different rat strains in order to determine whether there was a strain difference in the pathogenic response to BCCAO. Male Wistar and Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats (250-270 g) were subjected to BCCAO for three weeks. Klüver-Barrera and cresyl violet staining were used to evaluate white matter and gray matter damage, respectively. Wistar rats had a considerably higher mortality rate (four of 14 rats) as compared to SD rats (one of 15 rats) following BCCAO. Complete loss of pupillary light reflex occurred in all Wistar rats that survived, but loss of pupillary light reflex did not occur at all in SD rats. Moreover, BCCAO induced marked vacuolation in the optic tract of Wistar rats as compared to SD rats. In contrast, SD rats showed fewer CA1 hippocampal neurons than Wistar rats following BCCAO. These results suggest that the neuropathological process induced by BCCAO takes place in a region-specific pattern that varies according to the strain of rat involved.
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Table 1.
Experimental group | # of animals | # of surviving animals | Mortality rate (%) |
---|---|---|---|
SD sham | 8 | 8 | 0 |
SD BCCAO | 15 | 14 | 7 |
Wistar sham | 8 | 8 | 0 |
Wistar BCCAO | 14 | 10 | 29 |
Table 2.
Experimental group | # of surviving animals | # of animals showing PLR loss | PLR loss (%) |
---|---|---|---|
SD sham | 8 | 0 | 0 |
SD BCCAO | 14 | 0 | 0 |
Wistar sham | 8 | 0 | 0 |
Wistar BCCAO | 10 | 10 | 100 |
Direct and indirect PLR were examined before the surgery and once per day for seven days after the procedure. SD Sham, SD rats subjected to sham operation; SD BCCAO, SD rats subjected to BCCAO for three weeks; Wistar sham, Wistar rats subjected to sham operation; Wistar BCCAO, Wistar rats subjected to BCCAO for three weeks.