Evaluation of brain ischemia in mice

Cerebrovascular disease is the third leading cause of death in the industrialized world and is also a major cause of long-lasting disability. The development of gene deficient and transgenic mice has recently aided in research into and development of specific surgical procedures for brain ischemia in mice. The models of brain ischemia are divided into global ischemia and focal ischemia. Global ischemia is divided into two sub-models, forebrain ischemia and total ischemia. Forebrain ischemia is widely used to analyze delayed neuronal cell death including apoptosis, while total ischemia is used to clarify the neuronal cell death by the systemic ischemia such as cardiac arrest. On the other hand, focal ischemia is used to analyze pathological stroke. Pathophysiology of brain ischemia has been clarified by the use of these models. This review outlines the pathways that lead to cell death following ischemia. Moreover, we have reviewed these currently-used mouse experimental models of global and focal ischemia.