Doppler Sonography to Monitor Flow in Different Cerebral Arteries in the Rabbit

Abstract

Most of the transcranial Doppler (TCD) experimental studies on cerebral haemodynamics have been performed in the rabbit because of the similarity between its Willis circle and that of the human, but these studies have mainly been limited to the basilar artery. The present study was aimed at extending the use of TCD sonography to all other large cerebral arteries. In anaesthetised rabbits, these arteries were insonated from three different recording sites, i.e. top-cranial, suboccipital and orbital, using a two-channel pulsed Doppler device equipped with 4 and 8 MHz probes. First, discrimination between intra- and extracranial arteries was achieved through a standard 'rebreathing' test (hypercapnic-hypoxic stimulation). The distinctive blood velocity response patterns, reflecting the different extents of metabolic reactivity in intra- and extracranial territories, are described and discussed. Intracranial arteries were then identified on the basis of their response to ipsi- and contralateral common carotid artery occlusion. This procedure allowed recording from the following arteries: anterior common trunk, anterior cerebral, internal carotid, middle cerebral and basilar; the latter could be simultaneously monitored with any of the others. This study provides an experimental model allowing investigation of regional differences in the haemodynamic response to neurogenic and pharmacological stimuli.

Autophagy protein 5 controls flow-dependent endothelial functions

“…5 K, L) from Cdh5.cre-Atg5 lox/lox mice. We also assessed vasodilation of basilar arteries in response to hypercapnia as an in vivo test of endothelial function [ 29 , 30 ]. This was significantly impaired in Cdh5 .cre- Atg5 lox/lox mice (Fig.…”

The influence of suturectomy on age-related changes in cerebral blood flow in rabbits with familial bicoronal suture craniosynostosis: A quantitative analysis

“…Our well-established rabbit model of familial coronal suture synostosis [ 9 – 13 , 17 , 21 , 25 , 51 ] was used due to the similarity in the sutural, cranial vault, and cerebrovascular architecture dysmorphology, compared to infants with craniosynostosis [ 13 , 21 , 23 , 39 , 48 – 50 , 52 – 54 ]; however, we acknowledge the limitation of extrapolating these results to a human clinical setting given the differences in brain morphology and growth patterns between humans and lagomorphs. Approximately 90% of brain growth in rabbits is completed by 35 days of age [ 13 , 55 ], as compared to about 4 to 6 years of age in humans [ 56 ].…”

Age-related peridural hyperemia in craniosynostotic rabbits

“…This rabbit model was adopted by investigators because of the similarity between its cerebrovascular architecture and that of the human [4, 18, 27, 34]. The rabbit model of craniosynostosis is well-established [12–14, 20–23] and appears to be an appropriate model of simple synostosis of the coronal sutures [13].…”