Reduced subventricular zone proliferation and white matter damage in juvenile ferrets with kaolin-induced hydrocephalus.

Hydrocephalus is a neurological condition characterized by altered cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow with enlargement of ventricular cavities in the brain. A reliable model of hydrocephalus in gyrencephalic mammals is necessary to test preclinical hypotheses. Our objective was to characterize the behavioral, structural, and histological changes in juvenile ferrets following induction of hydrocephalus.

Intracranial biomechanics of acute experimental hydrocephalus in live rats.

Background: The mechanisms of hydrocephalus formation remain unclear.

Objective: To measure intracranial biomechanical changes in rats with hydrocephalus.

Methods: Stress-strain relationships were determined by using force-controlled indentation through a craniotomy.

Magnetic resonance imaging indicators of blood-brain barrier and brain water changes in young rats with kaolin-induced hydrocephalus.

Background: Hydrocephalus is associated with enlargement of cerebral ventricles. We hypothesized that magnetic resonance (MR) imaging parameters known to be influenced by tissue water content would change in parallel with ventricle size in young rats and that changes in blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability would be detected.

Methods: Hydrocephalus was induced by injection of kaolin into the cisterna magna of 4-week-old rats, which were studied 1 or 3 weeks later.

Age-dependence of intracranial viscoelastic properties in living rats.

To explore the effect of maturation on intracranial mechanical properties, viscoelastic parameters were determined in 44 live rats at ages 1-2, 10-12, 21, 56-70, and 180 days using instrumented indentation. With the dura mater intact, the apparent modulus of elasticity, the indentation modulus, and viscous behavior were measured in vivo, as well as 1 h after death. In a separate group of 25 rats, brain water, and protein content were determined.

Persistent motor deficit following infusion of autologous blood into the periventricular region of neonatal rats.

Periventricular hemorrhage (PVH) in the brain of premature infants is often associated with developmental delay and persistent motor deficits. Our goal is to develop a rodent model that mimics the behavioral phenotype. We hypothesized that autologous blood infusion into the periventricular germinal matrix region of neonatal rats would lead to immediate and long-term behavioral changes.

Periventricular/intraventricular hemorrhage in neonatal mouse cerebrum.

Periventricular/intraventricular hemorrhage (PVH/IVH) into brain can occur in premature infants and is associated with poor developmental outcome. The purpose of this study was to develop and characterize a model of PVH/IVH in newborn mouse. We hypothesized that periventricular germinal matrix would exhibit reduced cell proliferation.