*2*.*3*. *Infarct and Edema Assessment*

After 24 h of reperfusion, the rats were subjected to general halothane anesthesia and decapitated. The brain was immediately removed and placed in ice-cold saline. Each brain was then cut into 2 mm coronal slices in a rat brain matrix. The brain slices were immediately immersed in 2% 2,3,5-triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC, Wako Pure Chemicals Industries, Osaka, Japan) at 37 °C for 15 min and then in 4% formaldehyde [26,27]. Infarct areas were identified using an image analysis system (Scion Image 1.62, Frederick, MD, USA) and were combined to obtain the infarct volumes per brain according to the following formula: corrected infarct volume (%) = (left hemisphere volume − (right hemisphere volume − the infarct volume)) × 100/left hemisphere volume. Edema in the ischemic hemisphere was also calculated as follows: edema (%) = (right hemisphere volume − the infarct volume)/left hemisphere volume × 100.
