A novel approach to induction and rehabilitation of deficits in forelimb function in a rat model of ischemic stroke.

Aim: Constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT), which forces use of the impaired arm following unilateral stroke, promotes functional recovery in the clinic but animal models of CIMT have yielded mixed results. The aim of this study is to develop a refined endothelin-1 (ET-1) model of focal ischemic injury in rats that resulted in reproducible, well-defined lesions and reliable upper extremity impairments, and to determine if an appetitively motivated form of rehabilitation (voluntary forced use movement therapy; FUMT) would accelerate post-ischemic motor recovery.

Methods: Male Sprague Dawley rats (3 months old) were given multiple intracerebral microinjections of ET-1 into the sensorimotor cortex and dorsolateral striatum.