OBJECTIVETo study optical intrinsic signal (OIS) imaging of peri-infarct depolarizations (PIDs) in mice and investigate the influence of knockout of glial fibrillary acidic protein and vimentin on PIDs.

METHODSGFAP(⁺/⁺)Vim(⁺/⁺) mice and GFAP(⁺/⁺)Vim(⁺/⁺) mice were subjected to MCAO by standard intraluminal filament method. The main characteristics of PIDs in 4 h were studied by 4-wavelength OIS imaging technique.

RESULTSPIDs were identified as consistent, red and blue interaction waves in the cortical reflectance that slowly propagated peripherally from the origin site. There were 5 patterns of PID propagation, namely rostro-caudal, latero-medial, caudo-rostral, contralateral and medial-lateral. No significant differences were found in PID frequency, propagation patterns, velocity or duration time between the two groups (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe 4-wavelength OIS system allows acquisition of high temporal-spatial resolution color images for analyzing temporal-spatial characteristics of PIDs in detail. Knockout of GFAP and vimentin do not affect PIDs in 4 h following middle cerebral artery occlusion.