Establishment of modified middle cerebral artery occlusion model in rats

Objective To establish a stable, reliable, and modified middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model in rats. Methods Sixty male SD rats were randomly divided into experimental and control groups, each group had 30 rats. The MCAO model was made using the modified method in the experimental group, while it was made using the traditional Zea Longa method in the control group. The success rate of model making, the size of cerebral infarction and the stability of the model were compared respectively in both groups. Results The success rate of model making was 82.8%, and the volume of cerebral infraction was 46±7% in the modified MCAO model, as compared with 89.3% and 48±7% in the control group, there was no significant differences (P0.05). The coefficient variation of the volume of cerebral infarction in the experimental group was15.94%, and it was 16.21% in the control group. The stability of the models in both groups was similar. Conclusion The modified MCAO model is a cerebral ischemia-reperfusion model in rats with favorable stability and high success rate.