Blood Replacement Rescues Mice from Stroke Damage

When mice that had suffered a stroke were given blood from a healthy donor, they experienced less tissue and neurological damage.

Written byAmanda Heidt

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stroke, animal model, mouse model, blood, cytokine storm, immune system, immune response, MMP-9, neutrophil

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Researchers have partially mitigated the effects of an ischemic stroke in mice simply by replacing a small amount of their blood with that of a healthy donor. Days after receiving the transplant, mice had less tissue damage surrounding the clot and suffered fewer neurological side effects compared to mice that had not received a blood infusion.

The results, published August 25 in Nature Communications, highlight the link between strokes in the brain and the immune system. At least some of the damage caused by strokes, the authors say, is the result of an overreactive immune response during which cells sent to an injury to fight infection and facilitate repair instead harm sensitive brain tissue.

“The initial impetus for the study was to determine the extent to which this immune response, which we know is very rapid and very profound, contributes to brain damage from stroke,” James Simpkins, a neuroscientist at ...

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Meet the Author

Amanda Heidt
Amanda first began dabbling in scicom as a master’s student studying marine science at Moss Landing Marine Labs, where she edited the student blog and interned at a local NPR station. She enjoyed that process of demystifying science so much that after receiving her degree in 2019, she went straight into a second master’s program in science communication at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Formerly an intern at The Scientist, Amanda joined the team as a staff reporter and editor in 2021 and oversaw the publication’s internship program, assigned and edited the Foundations, Scientist to Watch, and Short Lit columns, and contributed original reporting across the publication. Amanda’s stories often focus on issues of equity and representation in academia, and she brings this same commitment to DEI to the Science Writers Association of the Rocky Mountains and to the board of the National Association of Science Writers, which she has served on since 2022. She is currently based in the outdoor playground that is Moab, Utah. Read more of her work at www.amandaheidt.com.
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