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Updated: Aug 4, 2026
The Application Of Permanent Middle Cerebral Artery Ligation in the Mouse
Published on: July 25, 2011
Failure of GM1 ganglioside to influence outcome in experimental focal ischemia
1Department of Neurology, Cornell University Medical College, New York, N.Y.
Background And Purpose:
Reports of improved short-term (less than 72 hours) outcome in experimental models of mechanical and ischemic central nervous system injury suggest that exogenous ganglioside administration may confer a protective effect on neural tissue. We studied the effect of the monosialoganglioside GM1 on cerebral infarction and edema in spontaneously hypertensive rats subjected to permanent focal cerebral ischemia.
Methods:
GM1 or normal saline was injected intramuscularly once a day for 3 days before and 30 and 120 minutes after occlusion of the right middle and common carotid arteries. Following a 24-hour survival period, the volume of infarction was measured by computer-assisted image analysis, and the extent of edema was assessed by measurements of tissue water content and hemispheric volume.
Results:
Infarct volume was similar among the GM1-treated (n = 10) and saline-treated (n = 10) rats (212 +/- 10 versus 220 +/- 13 microliters, respectively). In a second series of experiments, the brain water content and edema volume of the ischemic right hemisphere in GM1-treated rats (n = 10) did not differ from saline-treated controls (n = 10).
Conclusions:
GM1 ganglioside does not effectively reduce cerebral infarction caused by permanent focal ischemia.
