Evaluating blood-brain barrier disruption and infarction volume concurrently in rats subjected to ischemic stroke using an optical imaging system

background: Blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption is pivotal in the pathophysiological process of ischemic stroke and is often measured in rodent stroke studies. Traditionally, rodent BBB permeability increase is determined by measuring cerebral leakage of certain dyes such as Evans Blue or sodium fluorescein (NaFL). However, due to the special processing of samples for BBB permeability measurement, they cannot be used afterward for determining other essential parameters such as cerebral infarction volume. Therefore, using different batches of animals for assessing BBB permeability and infarction volume is typical. However, this would limit the stroke study's statistical power and scientific value while hindering the implementation of procedures for high standard animal welfare. new method: The rats subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) were intraperitoneally injected with NaFL during the reperfusion phase. The brains were sliced and measured for BBB permeability using the small animal optical imaging system (IVIS® Lumia series III). Afterward, the same brain samples were either sliced or homogenized for tests that assessed infarction volume or other molecular changes. results: The sum fluorescence intensity of the ischemic brain slices under the IVIS® Lumia series Ⅲ showed a strong correlation with the infarction volume determined by 2,3,5-triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining (r = 0.7440, P = 0.0087). The fluorescence intensity of the whole ischemic brain was correlated with the NaFL concentration of brain tissue homogenates (r = 0.8653, P = 0.0026) and cerebral infarction volume (r = 0.7282, P = 0.0072). comparison with existing methods: The new method enables concurrent measurement of BBB permeability and infarction volume on the same batch of brain tissue samples without affecting most downstream biochemical assays. conclusions: By applying the new method, we could use the same batch of ischemic rodent brain tissue for multiple assays, including BBB permeability and infarction volume. Through this, we would reduce the animal numbers in each study and help to maximize the scientific and statistical potential of future rodent ischemic studies.