Cell Biology JoVE (Open Access) Citable · DOI

Using Zebrafish Larvae to Study the Pathological Consequences of Hemorrhagic Stroke

Name: Using Zebrafish Larvae to Study the Pathological Consequences of Hemorrhagic Stroke
Uploaded: 2026-06-17
Duration: 6 min 36 s
Description: Despite being the most severe subtype of stroke with high global mortality, there is no specific treatment for patients with intracerebral hemorrhage ...

DOI: 10.3791/59716-v

What you'll learn

✓ Induce and quantify intracerebral hemorrhage in zebrafish larvae
✓ Assess brain injury, neuroinflammation, and locomotor deficits post-hemorrhage
✓ Apply pharmacological interventions and analyze cellular responses to stroke

Protocol

Here we present a protocol to quantify brain injury, locomotor deficits and neuroinflammation following bleeding in the brain in zebrafish larvae, in the context of human intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH).

Difficulty

advanced

Total time

~5 days (egg production through final analysis)

Model organism

Zebrafish larvae (Danio rerio)

Biosafety

BSL-1

Steps

Produce and collect zebrafish eggs

Set up breeding conditions and collect fertilized eggs from zebrafish pairs on Day 0. Eggs are then incubated and prepared for subsequent experimental manipulation.

▶ 00:35

Treat larvae with atorvastatin and induce hemorrhage

On Days 1–2, administer atorvastatin treatment to larvae and perform intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) induction. Separate ICH-positive and ICH-negative larval populations for parallel analysis.

▶ 01:11

Quantify cell death, leukocytes, and motor activity

On Days 3–5, perform assays to measure brain cell death, analyze leukocyte infiltration and activation, and assess locomotor deficits using motility assays.

▶ 02:22

Document intracerebral hemorrhage phenotype and outcomes

Present representative results showing ICH induction success, visualization of bleeding in larval brain tissue, and quantified measurements of injury and inflammatory markers.

▶ 04:24

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