A novel rat model for cerebral venous sinus thrombosis: verification of similarity to human disease via clinical analysis and experimental validation

• Published in: Journal of translational medicine Vol. 20; no. 1; p. 174
• Main Authors: Mu, Shuwen, Lin, Yinghong, Xu, Yongjun, Wei, Xianqing, Zeng, Zihuan, Lin, Kunzhe, Zhu, Linghua, Liu, Qinghong, Qi, Xingfeng, Wei, Liangfeng, Liang, Shengxiang, Wang, Shousen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 11.04.2022; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Animal experimentation; Animal model; Animal models; Animals; Brain injury; Brain research; Care and treatment; Cerebral edema; Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis; Coma; COVID-19; Diagnosis; Edema; Ethics; Humans; Inflammation; Laboratory animals; Lasers; Mental depression; Methods; Models, Animal; Neuroimaging; Pathophysiology; Patients; Physiology, Pathological; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Retrospective Studies; Risk factors; Rubber; Serological tests; Sinus Thrombosis, Intracranial - diagnostic imaging; Sinus Thrombosis, Intracranial - pathology; Sinuses; Superior sagittal sinus; Superior Sagittal Sinus - pathology; Thrombosis; Vasogenic oedema; Venous thrombosis; China; Animal model; Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis; Pathophysiology; Vasogenic oedema
• ISSN: 1479-5876; 1479-5876
• DOI: 10.1186/s12967-022-03374-y

Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) is a rare neurovascular disorder with highly variable manifestations and clinical courses. Animal models properly matched to the clinical form of CVST are necessary for elucidating the pathophysiology of the disease. In this study, we aimed to establish a rat model that accurately recapitulates the clinical features of CVST in human patients. This study consisted of a clinical analysis and animal experiments. Clinical data for two centres obtained between January 2016 and May 2021 were collected and analysed retrospectively. In addition, a Sprague-Dawley rat model of CVST was established by inserting a water-swellable rubber device into the superior sagittal sinus, following which imaging, histological, haematological, and behavioural tests were used to investigate pathophysiological changes. Principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering heatmaps were used to evaluate the similarity between the animal models and human patients. The imaging results revealed the possibility of vasogenic oedema in animal models. Haematological analysis indicated an inflammatory and hypercoagulable state. These findings were mostly matched with the retrospective clinical data. Pathological and serological tests further revealed brain parenchymal damage related to CVST in animal models. We successfully established a stable and reproducible rat model of CVST. The high similarity between clinical patients and animal models was verified via cluster analysis. This model may be useful for the study of CVST pathophysiology and potential therapies.