[A new technique for collection the cerebrospinal fluid from rat (authors transl)]

An attempt was made to collect the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of rat using a capillary phenomenon technique. Experiments were carried out in 76 rats anesthetized with pentobarbital sodium (Nembutal, Abbot. 50 mg/kg IP). The midline incision in the occipital region was made from 0.5 cm anterior to interauricular line of 4 cm in length. Exposing the atlanto-occipital dura mater by separating the nuchal muscles, the CSF was collected with a heparinized microtube (MICROPET. Bection, Dickson and Company) through a small hole made by a 18G syringe needle. Thus, 0.05-0.05 ml of the CSF could be readily obtained without mixture of the blood in 64 cases out of 76 trials, 84%. This simple technique is a useful way to get a small amount of CSF from little animals, such as rats.