Ferric chloride-induced thrombosis mouse model on carotid artery and mesentery vessel

Severe thrombosis and its ischemic consequences such as myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism and stroke are major worldwide health issues. The ferric chloride injury is now a well-established technique to rapidly and accurately induce the formation of thrombi in exposed veins or artery of small and large diameter. This model has played a key role in the study of the pathophysiology of thrombosis, in the discovery and validation of novel antithrombotic drugs and in the understanding of the mechanism of action of these new agents. Here, the implementation of this technique on a mesenteric vessel and carotid artery in mice is presented. The method describes how to label circulating leukocytes and platelets with a fluorescent dye and to observe, by intravital microscopy on the exposed mesentery, their accumulation at the injured vessel wall which leads to the formation of a thrombus. On the carotid artery, the occlusion caused by the clot formation is measured by monitoring the blood flow with a Doppler probe.