Ischemic Stroke Exercise Model

Male C.B-17/Icr-^+/+Jcl mice were purchased from CLEA Japan (Tokyo, Japan). Eighty-one mice were divided into three groups: sham (3 mice), middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) + non-exercise (39 mice), and MCAO + exercise (39 mice). Four MCAO + non-exercise mice and five MCAO + exercise mice died owing to a reduction in food intake that was caused by surgical invasion of the masticatory muscles; hence, these mice were excluded from the experiments. One MCAO + exercise mouse was excluded from the experiments because of its unusual vascular structure. The detailed number of mice in each experiment is indicated in each figure legend. All animal experiments were approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee of Ritsumeikan University, Biwako Kusatsu Campus. We used as few animals as possible and always minimized their suffering.