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(Stroke. 2008;39:1563.)
© 2008 American Heart Association, Inc.

Original Contributions

Angiogenesis Detected After Embolic Stroke in Rat Brain Using Magnetic Resonance T2*WI

Guangliang Ding, PhD; Quan Jiang, PhD; Lian Li, PhD; Li Zhang, MD; Zheng Gang Zhang, PhD, MD; Karyn A. Ledbetter, BS; Lakshman Gollapalli, MS; Swayamprava Panda, MS; Qingjiang Li, MBA; James R. Ewing, PhD Michael Chopp, PhD

From the Department of Neurology (G.D., Q.J., L.L., L.Z., Z.G.Z., K.A.L., L.G., S.P., Q.L., J.R.E., M.C.), Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Mich; the Department of Radiology (L.G.), Wayne State University, Detroit, Mich; and the Department of Physics (M.C.), Oakland University, Rochester, Mich.

Correspondence to Michael Chopp, PhD, Henry Ford Hospital, Neurology Department, E&R 3056, 2799 West Grand Boulevard, Detroit, MI 48202. E-mail chopp{at}neuro.hfh.edu

Background and Purpose— This study uses T₂* weighted imaging (T2*WI) to measure the temporal evolution of cerebral angiogenesis in rats subjected to embolic stroke up to 6 weeks after stroke onset with or without sildenafil treatment.

Method— Male Wistar rats were subjected to embolic stroke and treated with saline (n=10) or with sildenafil (n=11), with treatment initiated at 24 hours and continued daily for 7 days after onset of ischemia. T2*WI measurements were performed at 24 hours after embolization and weekly up to 6 weeks using a 7-Tesla system. Histological measurements were obtained at 6 weeks after MRI scans.

Results— Using T2*WI, cerebral angiogenesis was detected starting from 4 weeks and from 2 weeks after onset of embolic stroke in saline and sildenafil treated rats, respectively. Significant differences in the temporal and spatial features of angiogenesis after embolic stroke up to 6 weeks after onset of stroke were found between saline and sildenafil treated rats and were identified with T2*WI. MRI permeability parameter, K_i, complementarily detected angiogenesis after ischemia in embolic stroke rats. Sildenafil treatment of stroke rats significantly enhanced the angiogenesis, as confirmed histologically.

Conclusions— T2*WI can quantitatively measure the temporal evolution of angiogenesis in rats subjected to embolic stroke. Compared to control rats, sildenafil treatment significantly increased angiogenesis in treated animals up to 6 weeks after stroke.

Key Words: angiogenesis • embolic stroke • magnetic resonance imaging • sildenafil • T₂* weighted imaging