A murine skeletal muscle ischemia-reperfusion injury model: differential pathology in BALB/c and DBA/2N mice

Ischemia-reperfusion injuries can occur with diseases such as myocardial infarction and stroke and during surgical procedures such as organ transplantation and correction of aortic aneurysms. We developed a murine model to mimic abdominal aortic aneurysm repair with cross-clamping of the aorta distal to the renal artery. After model development, we compared the normal complement BALB/c mouse with the C5-deficient DBA/2N mouse. To assess quantitative differences, we measured neuromuscular function up to 72 h after ischemia with a subjective clinical scoring system, as well as plasma chemistries, hematology, and histopathology. There were significant increases in clinical scores and creatine phosphokinase, lactate dehydrogenase, and muscle histopathology scores in BALB/c mice compared with those in DBA/2N mice and sham-surgery mice. Muscle histopathology scores of the cranial tibialis and quadriceps correlated well with clinical signs, creatine phosphokinase, and lactate dehydrogenase, and indicated the greatest pathology in these muscle groups. We developed a murine model of skeletal muscle ischemia-reperfusion injury that can utilize the benefits of murine genetic and transgenic models to assess therapeutic principles of this model. Additionally, we have shown a significant reduction in clinical signs, plasma muscle enzyme concentrations, and muscle pathology in the C5-deficient DBA/2N mouse in this model.