Modeling Neonatal Intraventricular Hemorrhage Through Intraventricular Injection of Hemoglobin

Neonatal intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) is a common consequence of premature birth and leads to brain injury, posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus (PHH), and lifelong neurological deficits. While PHH can be treated by temporary and permanent cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) diversion procedures (ventricular reservoir and ventriculoperitoneal shunt, respectively), there are no pharmacological strategies to prevent or treat IVH-induced brain injury and hydrocephalus. Animal models are needed to better understand the pathophysiology of IVH and test pharmacological treatments. While there are existing models of neonatal IVH, those that reliably result in hydrocephalus are often limited by the necessity for large-volume injections, which may complicate modeling of the pathology or introduce variability in the clinical phenotype observed. Recent clinical studies have implicated hemoglobin and ferritin in causing ventricular enlargement after IVH. Here, we develop a straightforward animal model that mimics the clinical phenotype of PHH utilizing small-volume intraventricular injections of the blood breakdown product hemoglobin. In addition to reliably inducing ventricular enlargement and hydrocephalus, this model results in white matter injury, inflammation, and immune cell infiltration in periventricular and white matter regions. This paper describes this clinically relevant, simple method for modeling IVH-PHH in neonatal rats using intraventricular injection and presents methods for quantifying ventricle size post injection.