Insights on pathophysiology of hydrocephalus rats induced by kaolin injection

Abstract Hydrocephalus can affect brain function and motor ability. Current treatments mostly involve invasive surgeries, with a high risk of postoperative infections and failure. A successful animal model plays a significant role in developing new treatments for hydrocephalus. Hydrocephalus was induced in Sprague–Dawley rats by injecting 25% kaolin into the subarachnoid space at the cerebral convexities with different volumes of 30, 60 and 90 μL. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed 1 month and 4 months after kaolin injection. The behavioral performance was assessed weekly, lasting for 7 weeks. The histopathological analyses were conducted to the lateral ventricles by hematoxylin–eosin (HE) staining. Transcriptomic analysis was used between Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH) patients and hydrocephalus rats. MRI showed a progressive enlargement of ventricles in hydrocephalus group. Kaolin‐60 μL and kaolin‐90 μL groups showed larger ventricular size, higher anxiety level, bigger decline in body weight, motor ability and cognitive competence. These symptoms may be due to higher‐grade inflammatory infiltrate and the damage of the structure of ependymal layer of the ventricles, indicated by HE staining. The overlap upregulated genes and pathways mainly involve immunity and inflammation. Transcriptomic revealed shared pathogenic genes CD40, CD44, CXCL10, and ICAM1 playing a dominance role. 60 μL injection might be recommended for the establishment of hydrocephalus animal model, with a high successful rate and high stability. The hydrocephalus model was able to resemble the inflammatory mechanism and behavioral performance observed in human NPH patients, providing insights for identifying therapeutic targets for hydrocephalus.