Dose-dependent alterations in dorso-ventral and anteroposterior ventricular diameters of the brain in juvenile Wistar rats following intracisternal Kaolin injection

Abstract

Kaolin is a clay mineral known to induce dose-dependent hydrocephalus following intra-cister injection. Their effect on the ventricles  remain to be fully studied. This study therefore aimed at evaluating the dorso-ventral and antero-posterior diameters of the lateral  ventricles of juvenile Wistar rats administered with different concentrations of sterile kaolin. A total of 18 juvenile male Wistar rats (5 to 6  weeks old; 95-100grams) were randomly grouped into a control (n = 3) and five experimental groups (n = 3 each) administered an intra- cisternal injection of 0.02ml of 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 mg/ml of sterile kaolin while the control group received a sham procedure. The  animals were weighed weekly for four weeks and then the brain harvested. The lateral ventricles of the harvested brain specimens were  measured at the dorso-ventral height and antero-posterior width dimensions. Data were analyzed using GraphPad prism. Intra-cisternal  injection of sterile kaolin induces dome-shaped heads, hunched back, unsteady gait and body weight loss compared with the control. The  150 to 250mg/kg and 200 to 250mg/kg groups presented significant higher right and left dorso-ventral diameters respectively  compared with the control. On the other hand, the 200 to 250mg/kg and 150 to 250mg/kg treated groups presented significant higher  right and left anteroposterior diameter respectively compared with the control. The dorso-ventral diameter of the left ventricle in the 250  mg/ml group was significantly higher than corresponding 50, 100 and 150 mg/ml groups. Findings from this study showed that kaolin- induced enlargement within the lateral ventricles of juvenile Wistar rats was dose-dependent.