Animal models of stroke have been investigated for many years to understand the behaviour and function following the human condition. The aim of this study was to utilize an established motion analysis technique and the Cardiff Classification tool based around Dempster-Shafer theory (DST) to quantify temporal gait and postural gait parameter of a rat model of stroke. Marker based motion analysi...

Acupuncture has a positive effect on cognitive deficits. However, the effects of laser acupuncture (LA) on cognitive function and its mechanisms of action are unclear. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of LA on middle cerebral artery occlusion- (MCAO-) induced cognitive impairment and its mechanisms of action. Transient focal cerebral ischemia was modeled in adult Sprague-Dawley r...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Follistatin-like 1 (FSTL1), an extracellular glycoprotein, has been reported to decrease apoptosis in ischemic cardiac diseases, but its effect in ischemic stroke has not been examined. We hypothesized that recombinant FSTL1 attenuates neuronal apoptosis through its receptor disco-interacting protein 2 homolog A (DIP2A) and the Akt pathway after middle cerebral artery occ...

BACKGROUND Motor dysfunction is common in stroke patients. Clinical electrophysiological studies suggest that transsynaptic degeneration occurred in the lower motor neurons, while pathological evidence is lacked. This study aimed to combine the electrophysiological and pathological results to prove the existence of transsynaptic degeneration in the motor system after stroke. METHODS Modified ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Differences among models in the temporal evolution of ischemia after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in rats may considerably influence the results of experimental stroke research. Using diffusion and perfusion imaging, we compared the spatiotemporal evolution of ischemia in Sprague Dawley rats after permanent suture MCAO (sMCAO; n=8) and embolic MCAO (eMCAO; n=8)...

Kallikrein cleaves low molecular weight kininogen to generate vasoactive kinins, which bind to the kinin B2 receptor, triggering a host of biological effects. Kallikrein gene delivery has been shown previously to reduce ischemia/reperfusion-induced cerebral infarction. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the kinin B2 receptor plays a protective role in ischemic brain injury using kinin...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Differential gene expression has been reported following the onset of focal stroke. To identify de novo expression of ischemia-induced genes, we applied subtractive cDNA library strategy to identify the genes that are selectively upregulated by focal stroke. METHODS Spontaneously hypertensive rats were subjected to permanent occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCAO...

PURPOSE To determine whether the neurosteroid progesterone, shown to have protective effects in animal models of traumatic brain injury, stroke, and spinal cord injury, is also protective in ocular ischemia animal models. METHODS Progesterone treatment was tested in two ocular ischemia models in rats: a rodent anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (rAION) model, which induces permanent monocular...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Both pathogenic and regulatory immune processes are involved in the middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model of experimental stroke, including interactions involving the programmed death 1 (PD-1) receptor and its 2 ligands, PD-L1 and PD-L2. Although PD-1 reduced stroke severity, PD-L1 and PD-L2 appeared to play pathogenic roles, suggesting the use of anti-PD-L monocl...

Reperfusion is the only approved therapy for acute ischemic stroke; however, it can cause excessive inflammation responses and aggravate brain damage. Therefore, supplementary treatment against inflammation caused by reperfusion is required. In a previous study from our group, curcumin was demonstrated to decrease infarction volume, brain edema and blood‑brain barrier (BBB) disruption against c...