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Method parameters’ impact on mortality and variability in rat stroke experiments: a meta-analysis
Linköping University, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Clinical Chemistry. Linköping University, Faculty of Health Sciences.
Linköping University, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Clinical Chemistry. Linköping University, Faculty of Health Sciences.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-8813-0384
Linköping University, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Clinical Chemistry. Linköping University, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Neurosurgery. Linköping University, Faculty of Health Sciences. Östergötlands Läns Landsting, Anaesthetics, Operations and Specialty Surgery Center, Department of Neurosurgery.
Linköping University, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Clinical Chemistry. Linköping University, Faculty of Health Sciences. Östergötlands Läns Landsting, Center for Diagnostics, Department of Clinical Chemistry.
2013 (English)In: BMC Neuroscience, E-ISSN 1471-2202, Vol. 14, no 41Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Background

Even though more than 600 stroke treatments have been shown effective in preclinical studies, clinically proven treatment alternatives for cerebral infarction remain scarce. Amongst the reasons for the discrepancy may be methodological shortcomings, such as high mortality and outcome variability, in the preclinical studies. A common approach in animal stroke experiments is that A) focal cerebral ischemia is inflicted, B) some type of treatment is administered and C) the infarct sizes are assessed. However, within this paradigm, the researcher has to make numerous methodological decisions, including choosing rat strain and type of surgical procedure. Even though a few studies have attempted to address the questions experimentally, a lack of consensus regarding the optimal methodology remains.

Methods

We therefore meta-analyzed data from 502 control groups described in 346 articles to find out how rat strain, procedure for causing focal cerebral ischemia and the type of filament coating affected mortality and infarct size variability.

Results

The Wistar strain and intraluminal filament procedure using a silicone coated filament was found optimal in lowering infarct size variability. The direct and endothelin methods rendered lower mortality rate, whereas the embolus method increased it compared to the filament method.

Conclusions

The current article provides means for researchers to adjust their middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) protocols to minimize infarct size variability and mortality.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
BioMed Central, 2013. Vol. 14, no 41
Keywords [en]
Brain infarction, Middle cerebral artery occlusion, Rats, Methods, Mortality, Variability
National Category
Medical and Health Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-93981DOI: 10.1186/1471-2202-14-41ISI: 000318616000001PubMedID: 23548160OAI: oai:DiVA.org:liu-93981DiVA, id: diva2:628241
Note

Funding Agencies|County Council of Ostergotland, Sweden||

Available from: 2013-06-13 Created: 2013-06-13 Last updated: 2024-01-17Bibliographically approved
In thesis
1. Challenges in experimental stroke research: The 17β-estradiol example
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Challenges in experimental stroke research: The 17β-estradiol example
2016 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Ischemic stroke causes millions of deaths around the world each year, and surviving patients often suffer from long-term disability. Hundreds of promising drug candidates have been identified in animal models, but the clinical trials have repeatedly failed. Lack of methodological quality in the animal studies, e.g. low statistical power as a result of small group sizes in combination with high outcome variability and high mortality, has been suggested to in part explain the lack of translational success. In the meta-analytical Papers II and Paper V, we therefore investigated how method parameters impact infarct size variation and mortality in rodent stroke studies. These findings can help researchers to optimize their animal models or to more exactly predict variability and mortality given a certain experimental setup.

The relation between ischemic stroke and estrogens is complex. Premenopausal women have a lower risk of stroke than men of the same age, suggesting that female sex hormones provide protection against cerebrovascular events. The idea of a beneficial effect on the brain of estrogens was also supported by epidemiological studies showing that estrogens given as postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy decreased the risk of stroke. However, subsequent clinical trials reported the opposite, an increased risk. Interestingly, discrepancies exist also in the animal stroke literature. The majority of the rodent studies on the effects of estrogens have shown protection, but there are also several examples of increased damage. Based on experimental results and a meta-analysis, it was hypothesized that differences in hormone administration methods and their resulting plasma concentrations of estrogens might explain the previous discordant animal findings. Paper I investigated the commonly used methods for 17β-estradiol administration and found that the popular slow-release pellets produced high and unpredictable serum concentrations. A novel method with 17β-estradiol administered orally in Nutella® was also evaluated with promising results. Paper III extracted data regarding methodological choices from all previously published estrogen-stroke studies, and showed through metaanalysis that slow-release pellets are more prone to render estrogens damaging. Finally, Paper IV tested whether estrogens could both exert neuroprotection and promote detrimental effects merely depending on dose and irrespective of the administration route. Surprisingly, and in contrast to the hypothesis, a significant negative correlation was found between 17β-estradiol dose group and infarct size meaning that the higher the dose, the smaller the infarcts.

In summary, this thesis does not confirm the hypothesis of dose-related neuroprotective vs neurodamaging effects of estrogens on ischemic stroke. If high estrogen doses/plasma concentrations per se can cause increased stroke damage, such a phenomenon is not very robust, and seems to depend on tight dose ranges and/or other experimental circumstances. Although not directly applicable to the clinical situation, hopefully in a long-term perspective these findings may contribute in elucidating when estrogens are beneficial and when they are harmful. Further, it adds to the growing literature on how the quality of experimental stroke research can be increased to try to overcome translational difficulties.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Linköping: Linköping University Electronic Press, 2016. p. 70
Series
Linköping University Medical Dissertations, ISSN 0345-0082 ; 1504
National Category
Basic Medicine Neurosciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-123893 (URN)10.3384/diss.diva-123893 (DOI)978-91-7685-852-3 (ISBN)
Public defence
2016-02-05, Berzeliussalen, Ingång 65, Campus US, Linköping, 09:00 (Swedish)
Opponent
Supervisors
Available from: 2016-01-13 Created: 2016-01-13 Last updated: 2019-12-20Bibliographically approved

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Ström, JakobIngberg, EdvinTheodorsson, AnnetteTheodorsson, Elvar

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