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Abstract #3694

Vascular Response to Different Hypercapnic Challenges in Free Breathing or Ventilated C57Bl/6 Mice.

Tom Dresselaers1, Tom Struys1, Wouter Oosterlinck2, Sarah Caers1, Ann Van Santvoort1, Paul Herijgers2, Ivo Lambrichts3, Uwe Himmelreich1

1Department of Imaging & Pathology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Vl.Brabant, Belgium; 2Department of Experimental Cardiac Surgery, KU Leuven, Leuven, Vl.Brabant, Belgium; 3Department of Functional Morphology, Hasselt University, Diepenbeek, Limburg, Belgium


Cerebral perfusion deficits are a hallmark of several neurovascular diseases but are recently also coupled to the development and/or progression of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimers disease. Besides monitoring basal cerebral blood flow, the cerebral vascular response (CVR) induced by hypercapnic challenges might be a more sensitive and early detectable marker of vascular defects. This study describes the influence of different anaesthetics on the feasibility of non-invasive monitoring CVR in mice. Data show optimal results under ketamine/xylazine anaesthesia in combination with a muscle relaxant to allow proper ventilation to exclude any adverse effects of endogenous breathing patterns.