A RAT MIDDLE CEREBRAL ARTERY THROMBOSIS MODEL FOR EVALUATION OF THROMBOLYTIC AND ANTITHROMBOTIC AGENTS

The purpose of this study was to develope a rat model of cerebral artery thrombosisby adding FeCl₃ to the surface of right middle cerebral artery(MCA) for 30 min. After 4 h,8h, 24h,48 h, 72 h, 1 week and 2 week,the extent of neurologic deficits of rats was evaluated and after 24h and 48 h the size of cerebral infarction was measured. The results indicate that the features ofneurologic deficits and infarction were similar to those of the rat focal cerebral ischemia model estab-lished by Tamura et al(198l)¹.The nature of thrombus formed in our experiment is combined-thrombus. The antithrombotic effect of aspirin and the thrombolytic effect of urokinase were alsoexamined. Aspirin(50 mg·kg^-1)was given by duodenum 30 min before adding FeCl3 to the surfaceof the right MCA and urokinase(4000 U·kg^-1, iv) was given 30 min after thrombosis. After opera-tion, the behavior of rats were observed. The cerebral infarction was evaluated 24 h after thrombosis.The infarcted areas in the aspirin and the urokinase groups were reduced to 20%and 11%those of thecontrol group, respectively.The neurologic deficits were also attenuated. These studies suggest thatthis rat medel may be used for testing not only antithrombotic but also thrombolytic agents.