AJP - Heart and Circulatory Physiology, Vol 242, Issue 6 990-H995, Copyright © 1982 by American Physiological Society
Regional blood flows measured in Mongolian gerbil by a modified microsphere method
M. Matsumoto, K. Kimura, A. Fujisawa, T. Matsuyama, T. Asai, O. Uyama, S. Yoneda and H. Abe
Regional blood flow to major organs and regional cerebral blood flow were
determined in seven anesthetized male gerbils by a modified microsphere
method. Carbonized microspheres, 15 micrometers in diameter and labeled
with 85Sr or 141Ce, were injected into the left ventricle by cardiac
puncture through the closed thorax, and reference samples of known volume
were withdrawn from tail-artery cannula. No significant hemodynamic
alterations were observed during microsphere administration, and extraction
of 15-micrometers microspheres by the pulmonary or systemic capillary beds
was nearly 100%. The adequacy of mixing of microspheres in the left
ventricle was also validated. The absolute regional blood flow to various
organs and regional cerebral blood flow were expressed in terms of
milliliters per minute per gram tissue weight, and the values mostly agreed
with those reported previously in rats. The results indicate that the
reference sample method can be applied to the gerbil. This method should
allow the gerbil, which is an animal widely used in stroke research, to be
conveniently used for hemodynamic studies when organ blood flow and
regional cerebral blood flow are necessary.
