Abstract
Recently, systematic reviews have found quantitative evidence that low study quality may have introduced a bias into preclinical stroke research. Monitoring, auditing, and standard operating procedures (SOPs) are already key elements of quality control in randomized clinical trials and will hopefully be widely adopted by preclinical stroke research in the near future. Increasingly, funding bodies and review boards overseeing animal experiments are taking a proactive stance, and demand auditable quality control measures in preclinical research. Every good quality control system is based on its SOPs. This article introduces the concept of quality control and presents for the first time an SOP in experimental stroke research.
Highlights
Experimental focal ischemia is most commonly studied after permanent or transient occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) in rodents
Ensure proper pain relief in the perioperative and postoperative period, e.g. by repeated topical application of a long-acting local anaesthetic, for instance bupivacaine ointment serving as an absorption depot
The internal carotid artery (ICA) is isolated and a loose knot is prepared with a suture thread
Summary
Experimental focal ischemia is most commonly studied after permanent or transient occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) in rodents. Proximal MCA occlusion can be induced by an intraluminal suture (so-called filament model) and causes injury to cortex and deeper brain structures (striatum). Distal MCA occlusion (the so-called 'Brint' or 'Tamura'-models) is usually produced by blocking the MCA after it gives off lencticulostriate branches at the basal surface of the lateral part of the cerebral hemisphere. Distal occlusion typically spares the striatum and primarily involves the neocortex. If recirculation is established early (2 hrs or less) outcome is better (transient MCA occlusion). The reperfused brain imitates restoration of blood flow after spontaneous lysis of a thromboembolic clot in humans, even though reperfusion after clot lysis is certainly more complex than an on-off phenomenon as modelled by placement and retraction of an intravascular filament
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