Researchers of the Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology (CMN) Research Group at the Germans Trias i Pujol Institute (IGTP) have developed and established a novel, reproducible and minimally invasive stroke model in pigs through an endovascular approach. The work has been conducted at CMCiB, together with the IGTP and the Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital and the study was published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation Insight as a remarkable Technical Advance.

The need for stroke animal models with an anatomy that resembles human-like brain characteristics while avoiding the use of non-human primates to fulfil the EU regulations and to fit ethical concerns, is a long-pursued demand in the search for new treatments. In this regard, this novel stroke model in pigs will allow to better understand and study the mechanisms operating in stroke that are also present in stroke patients, and to find better stroke therapies.

"The reproducibility of the damage in specific brain areas in the model is important to any study that aims to determine the true neuroprotective effect of new molecules to be tested in brains similar to those of humans", says Dr Teresa Gasull, who has led the study. In words of Dr Carlos Castaño and Marc Melià-Sorolla, co-first authors of the study, "We expect this new model will foster the development of new therapeutic compounds and devices to treat patients in the years to come".

This important advance reaffirms CMCiB's position as a reference centre in the validation of medical devices through animal models, fostering the safe and efficient translation of biomedical innovations to clinical practice.

Reference

Castaño C, Melià-Sorolla M, García-Serran A, DeGregorio-Rocasolano N, García-Sort MR, Hernandez-Pérez M, Valls-Carbó A, Pino O, Grífols J, Iruela-Sánchez A, Palomar-García A, Puig J, Martí-Sistac O, Dávalos A, Gasull T. Establishment of a reproducible and minimally invasive ischemic stroke model in swine. JCI Insight. 2023 Apr 24;8(8):e163398. DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.163398.