Regional Cerebral Ischemia in the Gerbil: Measurement of Regional Cerebral Blood Flow by Quantitative Autoradiography

Alterations in the regional CBF after occlusion of the posterior communicating, middle cerebral, or common carotid artery were investigated in the gerbil with a quantitative autoradiographic technique using [¹⁴C]iodoantipyrine. Occlusion of the posterior communicating artery produced severe ischemia in the ipsilateral hippocampus, thalamus, and dorsal mesencephalon. Occlusion of the middle cerebral artery produced severe ischemia in the ipsilateral rostral and central cerebral cortex and lateral caudate–putamen. Occlusion of the common carotid artery produced ipsilateral hemispheric ischemia of variable degrees. The distribution and degree of cerebral ischemia produced by occlusion of one of these arteries correlated closely to the arterial territory and the extent of collateral blood supply. Since the areas affected after occlusion of the posterior communicating or middle cerebral artery differ, those models will be useful for the comparative investigation of the ischemia-related cerebral pathophysiology associated with different sites of primary lesion.