Experience of Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion with Monofilament Technique and Investigation of Ischemia-Reperfusion-Related Structural Changes in Brain Tissue

Aim In this experiment, we aimed to convey our experience of the temporary stroke model created with the monofilament technique in the middle cerebral artery and to characterize the histopathological changes in the brain tissue caused by ischemia-reperfusion at the microscopic level. Material-Method Eleven adult (27 weeks-old) Wistar-Albino female rats were used in the experiments. Experimental animals were randomly divided into 2 groups. The first group was tagged as SHAM underwent the mock operation. The other group, which underwent 3 days of reperfusion after 1 hour of ischemia, was labeled as IR. Histological examinations were performed from the isolated brain tissues at the end of the reperfusion period. Results Our histological examinations showed that the cortical structure was highly irregular, vacuolization in the molecular layer and homogeneous cytoplasm and paler nuclei were observed in some Purkinje cells in the images belonging to the IR group. In addition, our experience with surgical procedures has shown that animal deaths in studies with the monofilament technique are mostly due to vagus nerve damage. Conclusion In this study, we reported the histopathological changes in the brain tissue caused by stroke at the microscopic level. We also presented our experience in the surgical processes of an animal model used in the study of stroke. As a result, we concluded that it is important to gain manual dexterity by making preliminary work due to the difficulty of creating a stroke model with the monofilament technique.