Intravascular Perfusion of Carbon Black Ink Allows Reliable Visualization of Cerebral Vessels

Analysis of rodent cerebrovascular anatomy plays an important role in experimental stroke research. In this context, intravascular perfusion with colored latex has been considered as a standard tool for several years. However, this technique implies distinct technical limitations, which undermine its reproducibility. Here, we describe a simple method to visualize cerebral vessels in a reproducible manner. Injection of a mixture of two commercially available carbon black inks through the left myocardial ventricle results in adequate filling of cerebral vessels with high contrast visualization. We have successfully applied this technique to identify anastomotic points between cerebral vascular territories of mice with different genetic backgrounds. We finally give evidence that this novel and simple method for vessel staining can be combined with triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining - a widely used tool to observe and analyze infarct volumes in mice.