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Updated: May 8, 2026
A Mouse Model for Vascular Cognitive Impairment and Dementia Based on Needle-guided Asymmetric Bilateral Common Carotid Artery Stenosis
Published on: November 22, 2024
Mouse models to study the effect of cardiovascular risk factors on brain structure and cognition
Diewertje I Bink1, Katja Ritz, Eleonora Aronica
11] Department of Pathology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands [2] Department of Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Insights
Cardiovascular diseases impact cognition, leading to vascular cognitive impairment (VCI). Animal models show promise for studying VCI mechanisms, with bilateral common carotid artery stenosis being the most effective model.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cardiovascular Research
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Cardiovascular diseases like atherosclerosis, heart failure, and hypertension are linked to cognitive decline.
- The mechanisms underlying vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) remain poorly understood.
- VCI research has been limited by a focus on Alzheimer's disease models.
Purpose of the Study:
- To critically review existing animal models for studying VCI.
- To identify suitable models that replicate key features of vascular cognitive decline.
- To guide future research on the mechanisms of VCI.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of published literature on VCI and cardiovascular disease animal models.
- Analysis of reported cerebral changes in various surgical mouse models.
- Comparison of model characteristics and their relevance to human VCI.
Main Results:
- VCI is characterized by reduced cerebral perfusion, blood-brain barrier issues, white matter lesions, and cognitive deficits.
- Several cardiovascular mouse models exhibit these VCI features.
- The bilateral common carotid artery stenosis (BCCAS) hypoperfusion model is identified as the most promising for VCI research.
- Transverse aortic constriction (TAC) and myocardial infarction (MI) models show potential but require further characterization for cerebral effects.
Conclusions:
- Existing animal models can recapitulate key aspects of vascular cognitive decline.
- The BCCAS model offers a robust platform for investigating VCI mechanisms.
- Further research is needed to fully characterize TAC and MI models for VCI studies.
- Mixed models may be valuable for exploring the combined impact of multiple cardiovascular conditions on aging cognition.
Abstract:
Recent clinical data indicates that hemodynamic changes caused by cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis, heart failure, and hypertension affect cognition. Yet, the underlying mechanisms of the resulting vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) are poorly understood. One reason for the lack of mechanistic insights in VCI is that research in dementia primarily focused on Alzheimer's disease models. To fill in this gap, we critically reviewed the published data and various models of VCI. Typical findings in VCI include reduced cerebral perfusion, blood-brain barrier alterations, white matter lesions, and cognitive deficits, which have also been reported in different cardiovascular mouse models. However, the tests performed are incomplete and differ between models, hampering a direct comparison between models and studies. Nevertheless, from the currently available data we conclude that a few existing surgical animal models show the key features of vascular cognitive decline, with the bilateral common carotid artery stenosis hypoperfusion mouse model as the most promising model. The transverse aortic constriction and myocardial infarction models may be good alternatives, but these models are as yet less characterized regarding the possible cerebral changes. Mixed models could be used to study the combined effects of different cardiovascular diseases on the deterioration of cognition during aging.
