Quantitative Evaluation of Cerebral Microhemorrhages in the Mouse Brain

Cerebral microhemorrhages are microscopic bleeds in the brain parenchyma and are the pathological substrates of cerebral microbleeds. Clinically and in mouse models, detection of cerebral microhemorrhages involves the use of magnetic resonance imaging and/or postmortem neuropathology techniques including hematoxylin and eosin (H & E) staining to detect extravasated red blood cells and fresh/acute microhemorrhages and Prussian blue staining to detect iron released from extravasated red blood cells and subacute/old microhemorrhages. Here we describe the step-by-step procedure for mouse brain processing and H & E and Prussian blue staining and quantification of acute (H & E-positive) and subacute (Prussian blue-positive) cerebral microhemorrhages in mouse brain tissues.