The Callicam
Current Common Marmoset Research
Current Research - Page 6
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III. Biomedical Research (cont.)
B) Stroke Model
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Strokes result from the blockage of blood flowing to a part of the brain and
can result in side effects such as difficulty in walking or in seeing.
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Researchers have found a way to model a stroke in marmosets by disrupting
blood flow to a major artery supplying blood to the brain.
Strokes are the Number Three cause of death in the United States. According
to the American Stroke Association every 53s. someone in the USA has a stroke.
Strokes are caused by an obstruction of arterial blood, or newly oxygenated
blood, flowing into the brain. This obstruction decreases the volume of the
oxygen rich blood flowing to surrounding areas of the brain and effected brain
cells die. The loss of brain cells can cause numerous side effects such as:
- difficulty in walking and reaching
- difficulty seeing
- trouble speaking or understanding speech
- dizziness
- the loss of the ability to balance
Generally, strokes are abrupt and occur without warning. Unfortunately, for
those who have suffered from a stroke, rehabilitation has little effect and
there are few drug treatments that can alleviate the problems.
Although there is no way to prevent strokes, or effectively treat the
symptoms, at this time, researchers have discovered a way to study consequences
of a stroke. By artificially creating a stroke in the common marmoset,
researchers found that the marmosets displayed the same side-effects as humans
would, had they suffered from a stroke. To reliably reproduce this valuable
model researchers first trained the monkeys to perform several behavioral tasks,
in order to determine how they normally performed. Next, the blood flow of a
major brain artery was disrupted similar to the result occurring in a real
stroke. Experimental drugs were administered to experimentally manipulated
marmosets to determine if they had any effect in combating the severe
side-effects of the stroke. Several weeks later the monkeys were re-tested on
the same behavioral tasks and these performance levels were compared to their
previous normal performance levels. Comparing the behavior tests of the
marmosets before the stroke and after the stroke with or without additional drug
treatments helped researchers determine which drugs had beneficial effect
protecting against brain cell death. The closer a marmoset behavior after stroke
and drug treatment was to the marmosets normal behavior more effective the drug
was in reducing the stroke's side-effects. By testing likely drugs on marmosets
displaying stroke side-effects, researchers can potentially find a drug that
will either reduce or cure stroke side effects all together.
Further Reading:
Marshall, J. W., & Ridley, R. M. (1998). The Use of the Marmoset to Study
Neuroprotective Drugs for the Treatment of Ischamic Stroke. European Marmoset
Research Group. Marmosets in Biomedicine and as Models for Human Disease
(Abstracts). 6.
Marshall, J. W., Cross, A. J., Jackson, D. M., Green, A. R., Baker, H. F.,
& Ridley, R. M. (2000). Clomethiazole Protects Against Hemineglect in a
Primate Model of Stroke. Brain Research Bulletin, 52 (1), 21-29.
Additional Related Links:
American Stroke Association:
http://www.strokeassociation.org
Mayo Medical Center - Stroke education:
http://www.mayo.edu/cerebro/education/stroke.html
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke:
http://www.ninds.nih.gov
National Stroke Association:
http://www.stroke.org
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Text by Rebecca Dallwig.
