Behavioural testing in the neonatal rodent invaluable tools for understanding models of brain injury

Abstract

Background: Perinatal ischemic stroke causes long-term neurological problems that consist of behavioural deficits, cognitive as well as motor deficits that lead to increased social and health care costs. The incidence of symptomatic perinatal ischemic stroke in infants is at least 1 in every 4,000 births. Photothrombotic cerebral ischemic stroke influences purposeful performance controlled by the impacted areas of the brain. Ischemic or haemorrhagic stroke causes post-stroke movement disorders, as well as vascular parkinsonism and hemichorea- hemiballismus disorders. To understand the effects of neonatal and prenatal stroke on infants, this project examined the behavioural analysis of neonatal rats subjected to a photothrombotic stroke and controls (sham-operated) using the carotid artery ligation and exposure to hypoxia and middle cerebral arty occlusion models. The aim of this study was to conducted wire hang tests to examine the behaviour in stroke effected animals to determine whether these functions are impaired by stroke or not. Our hypothesis based on the literate was that stroke would cause the deficits in the behavioural testing. Results- The study found that neonatal stroke induced by ischemic injury impaired behavioural changes of the rats that lead to a significant reduction of hanging (grip) capabilities. However, the stroke did not impair the rat pup’s ability to use their paws to hang on the wire. We also found that the location of the stroke was important in causing the wire hang deficit, as animals with mis-placed stroke lesions had no deficit. Conclusion - subjecting rats to a photothrombotic stroke impaired hanging behaviour and capabilities, indicating that it is an appropriate model (in this regard) for studying neuroprotective agents in the future.