Stroke is a common and devastating disease, and the greatest cause of disability. It is a serious life-threatening medical condition that happens when the blood supply to part of the brain is cut off. There are 2 main causes of strokes:
- Ischemic – where the blood supply is stopped because of a blood clot, accounting for 85% of all cases
- Haemorrhagic – where a weakened blood vessel supplying the brain bursts
Stroke is studied in animal models by permanently or transiently occluding a cerebral artery that causes a severe reduction in cerebral blood flow (CBF) in the territory of that artery. Rodent stroke models can provide the experimental backbone for the in vivo determination of the mechanisms of cell death and neural repair, and for the initial testing of neuroprotective compounds. Also, there are many standard rodent models that are best suited to test neuroprotective therapies.