The Assessment of Functional Change in Ischemic Stroke Rat

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To investigate and quantify functional deficit in ischemic stroke rat. METHOD: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into sham group and stroke group. Permanent cerebral ischemia was inflicted on the stroke group by occluding the middle cerebral artery (MCAO). The proportion of hind limb weight bearing pressure was also measured. The withdrawal threshold values in the hindpaws were measured by using von-Frey hair for seven days from the day before ischemia. RESULTS: The proportion of paretic hind limb pressure to whole hind limb pressure in stroke group was significantly reduced than sham group (p0.05). Garcia motor score of stroke group was reduced significantly than sham group in whole experimental session after MCAO (p0.05). CONCLUSION: Ischemic stroke in rats can lead to the reduction of pressure at paretic hind limb. The motor test for pressure weight borne on the paretic leg may provide functional information in the future studies with ischemic stroke rat.