Table 1.
Contrast of different methods/models and animals in cerebral ischemia.
| Model | Animal | Feature | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Global cerebral ischemia | Two-vessel occlusion (2VO) | Rat | High success rate, obviously damaged after ischemia/reperfusion; inducing whole-body hypotension in model preparation; influencing blood supply of other organs; it cannot be prepared in awake state, so neurobehavior assessment is infeasible | [64, 65] |
| Three-vessel occlusion (3VO) | Rat | Rapidly and effectively triggering ischemia; quickly recovering after reperfusion; suitable for acute whole-brained ischemia case, severe operation wound | [66, 67] | |
| Four-vessel occlusion (4VO) | Rat, rabbit | Suitable for subacute case; it can operate in both anesthetized and awake states; reperfusion is feasible; high mortality rate of animals | [68] | |
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| ||||
| Focal cerebral ischemia | Craniotomy method | Rat, mouse, cat, dog, pig | Accurate and reliable, consistent experimental conditions, high success rate, severe surgical damage; it cannot apply reperfusion, intracranial pressure increase in surgery, damage of blood-brain barrier, change of brain temperature | [69–73] |
| Thromboembolic model | Rat, mouse | Imitating in situ cerebral ischemia; it can evaluate the efficacy of thrombolytic agents, three types including microemboli suspension, single embolus, and multiemboli model | [69, 74–76] | |
| Nonclot embolic model | Rat, mouse, monkey | Using artificial materials to replace natural clot to avoid self-thrombolysis; the volume of embolus is adjustable and able to totally block the target artery, reduce the influence of uncontrollable reperfusion, and precisely control the time point of ischemia/reperfusion and may cause inflammatory response | [77–79] | |
| Intraluminal suture model | Rat, mouse | Well-reproducible, precise site of damage, precisely controllable time of ischemia; the operation of filament insertion into cranium cannot be directly observed and may cause hemorrhage and/or vasospasm | [80–82] | |
| Chemical induction model | Rat, mouse | Chemicals stimulate the vessels and induce vasoconstriction or directly produce clots | [83–86] | |