Characterizing and Profiling microRNAs in Dogs Undergoing Induced Ischemic Brain Stroke After Middle Cerebral Artery...

Ischemic stroke of the brain is still considered one of the most common causes of disability and death in developed and developing countries in human beings despite advances in medicine and technology. This study was conducted to characterize and profile tens of induced biomarkers (microRNAs) after experimentally inducing regional ischemic stroke of the brain by occluding the middle cerebral artery under fluoroscopic guidance using an autologous blood clot.

A total of six healthy dogs were recruited for this study. The microRNAs were profiled in the blood and urine before and after occluding the middle cerebral artery using genetic techniques.

The very highly expressed genes were comprised within cluster A, followed by cluster D in both 24 and 48-hour brain samples. Clusters B and C revealed down-regulated genes, while miRNAs remained up-regulated in the 24-hour samples merely in cluster F. Upregulated genes at 48 hours of reperfusion were included in cluster E. On the other hand, changes were observed after a day on the cluster G genes. Exclusive upregulation was notified after 2 days due to the changes in mIR-138. The normalized gene expression in the test sample is witnessed through Fold-Change, which divides the control sample's normalized gene expression. Moreover, fold-change has emerged as a significant approach for representing fold-regulation.

The microRNAs expression in blood and urine may have a potential role in the diagnosis, prognosis, and assessment of therapy associated with cerebral artery occlusion under fluoroscopic guidance.