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Updated: Aug 5, 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
A review of animal models of vascular dementia
1Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, 150006, China.
Insights
Vascular dementia (VD) research needs better animal models. This review compares VD models, highlighting limitations and offering guidance for improved preclinical studies to aid clinical translation.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Neuroscience
- Pathology
Background:
- Vascular dementia (VD) involves brain lesions, causing cognitive decline and impacting public health.
- Research is actively exploring VD pathogenesis, prevention, and treatment strategies.
- Developing effective animal models is crucial for VD research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically compare classical and modified VD animal models.
- To analyze the advantages and limitations of various VD models.
- To identify obstacles hindering clinical translation of VD research.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of VD animal model construction methods.
- Evaluation of pathological features across different VD models.
- Assessment of behavioral phenotypes in established VD models.
Main Results:
- Detailed comparison of VD model creation, pathology, and behavior.
- Identification of species differences, behavioral confounding factors, and reproducibility issues.
- Analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of current VD models.
Conclusions:
- Existing VD models face challenges in clinical translation.
- A framework for selecting appropriate VD models based on research goals is proposed.
- Enhancing model selection can improve the translational value of preclinical VD investigations.
Abstract:
Vascular dementia (VD) is characterized by the presence of cerebrovascular lesions, specifically hemorrhagic or ischemic lesions within the brain parenchyma, with ischemic lesions being more prevalent. The resultant progressive decline in cognitive abilities and memory poses a significant challenge to public health and quality of life. Consequently, a growing number of researchers have focused on exploring the pathogenesis, prevention, and treatment strategies for VD. The establishment of suitable animal models for investigating the underlying mechanisms of VD treatment and assessing therapeutic efficacy has emerged as a focal point in this area of research. This review systematically compares the construction methods, pathological features, and behavioral phenotypes of classical and modified VD animal models, while analyzing their respective advantages and limitations. Key obstacles to clinical translation presented by the existing models are highlighted, including species differences, behavioral confounding factors, and issues related to methodological reproducibility. Furthermore, this article offers a reference framework for model selection based on various research objectives, aimed at enhancing the translational value of preclinical VD investigations.
