Experimental intracerebral hematoma in the rat: Characterization by sequential magnetic resonance imaging, behavior, and histopathology. Effect of albumin therapy

• Published in: Brain research 2007-07, Vol.1157, p.146-155
• Main Authors: Belayev, Ludmila, Obenaus, Andre, Zhao, Weizhao, Saul, Isabel, Busto, Raul, Wu, Chunyan, Vigdorchik, Alexey, Lin, Baowan, Ginsberg, Myron D
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Albumin; Albumins - pharmacology; Albumins - therapeutic use; Animals; Behavior, Animal - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarkers - analysis; Biomarkers - metabolism; Brain Infarction - drug therapy; Brain Infarction - pathology; Brain Infarction - physiopathology; Cerebral Hemorrhage - diagnosis; Cerebral Hemorrhage - drug therapy; Cerebral Hemorrhage - physiopathology; Corpus Striatum - drug effects; Corpus Striatum - pathology; Corpus Striatum - physiopathology; Disease Models, Animal; Disease Progression; Gliosis - drug therapy; Gliosis - pathology; Gliosis - physiopathology; Hematoma; Immunohistochemistry - methods; Intracerebral hemorrhage; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Male; Medical sciences; MRI; Neurology; Neuroprotection; Pathology - methods; Rat; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Staining and Labeling - methods; Time Factors; Treatment Outcome; Vascular diseases and vascular malformations of the nervous system
• ISSN: 0006-8993; 1872-6240
• DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2007.04.077

Abstract We characterized acute intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in the rat by sequential magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and correlated MRI findings with neurobehavior and histopathology. In addition, we investigated whether albumin treatment would reduce ICH-induced brain injury. ICH was produced in rats by a double-injection method in which 45 μl of fresh arterial blood was injected into the right striatum. Susceptibility-weighted (SWI) and T2-weighted (T2WI) MRI was carried out on a 4.7T magnet at 0–1 h, 6 h, 24 h, 72 h, and 7 days after ICH. Animals were treated with either 25% human albumin, 1.25 g/kg, or saline vehicle i.v. at 90 min after ICH. Neurological status was evaluated before ICH and after treatment (at 4 h, 24 h, 48 h, 72 h, and 7 days). Brains were then perfusion-fixed, re-imaged on an 11.7T magnet, and studied by histopathology and immunochemistry. MRI revealed a consistent hematoma involving the striatum and overlying corpus callosum, with significant volume changes over time. Lesion volumes computed from T2WI images and by histopathology agreed closely with one another and were highly correlated ( p = 0.002). SWI lesion volumes were also highly correlated to histological volumes ( p < 0.001) but overestimated histological hematoma volume by ∼ 5-fold. Albumin treatment significantly improved neurological scores compared to saline at 72 h (3.8 ± 0.6 vs. 1.5 ± 0.7) and 7 days (3.8 ± 0.4 vs. 1.3 ± 0.5, respectively, p < 0.05), but did not affect histological or MRI lesion volumes. Taken together, sequential MRI plus histopathology provides a comprehensive characterization of experimental ICH. Albumin treatment improves neurological deficit after ICH but does not affect MRI or histological hematoma size.