Visualization of macroscopic cerebral vessel anatomy--a new and reliable technique in mice

Visualizing rodent cerebral vasculature is an important tool in experimental stroke research. Intravascular perfusion with colored latex has been the method of choice until recently. However, latex perfusion has some technical limitations which compromise its reproducibility. We therefore describe a simple and reproducible method to visualize cerebral vessels in mice. A mixture of two commercially available carbon black inks is injected into the thoracic aorta resulting in efficient filling and high contrast visualization of cerebral vessels. Feasibility of this technique has been validated by identifying anastomotic points between anterior and middle cerebral arteries. Furthermore, perfusion with combined carbon inks allows visualization of significantly smaller vessel diameters at a higher vessel density in comparison to perfusion with diluted/undiluted latex. Thus, perfusion with combined carbon inks offers a simple, cost-effective and reproducible technique in order to visualize cerebral vasculature.