A novel hydro-pneumatic fluid percussion device for inducing traumatic brain injury: assessment of sensory, motor, cognitive, molecular, and morphological outcomes in rodents

Abstract

Introduction: The fluid percussion method is widely used to induce brain injury in rodents. However, this approach has several limitations, including variability in the resulting damage, which is attributed to factors such as manual control of the mass used to generate the desired pressure. To address these issues, several modifications to the original method have been proposed.

Methods: In this study, we present a novel device called the Hydro-pneumatic Fluid Percussion Device, which delivers fluid directly to a lateral region of the brain to induce injury. To validate this model, three groups of male and female rats were subjected to lateral fluid percussion using our device, and the resulting damage was evaluated using sensory, motor, and cognitive tests, measurements of serum injury biomarkers, and morphological analysis via cresyl violet staining.

Results: Our results demonstrate that this new approach induced significant alterations in all parameters evaluated.

Discussion: This novel device for inducing TBI may be a valuable alternative for modeling brain injury and studying its consequences.

Keywords: H&E stain; Morris water maze; fluid percussion electronic control; molecular biomarkers; novel FPI device; traumatic brain injury.