2.2. FeCl3-Induced Carotid Arterial Injury Thrombosis Model

To determine the antithrombotic effect of sanguinarine, we measured the occlusion time in the FeCl₃-induced carotid arterial injury thrombosis model, which has been shown to cause substantial endothelium damage with exposure of underlying collagens [15]. The protocol was adapted from previously published work with minor changes [16]. C57BL/6 mice (8–12 weeks old) were obtained from Hubei Experimental Animal Research Center (Wuhan, Hubei, China). The mice experiments were evaluated and permitted by the Ethics Committee for experimental animals, Tongji Medical College. Sanguinarine (5 mg/kg or 10 mg/kg) was given intragastrically 24 h, 12 h and 2 h before modeling. The mice were given anesthetics by intraperitoneal injection of pentobarbital sodium before the surgical operations in which their carotid arteries were exposed. A Doppler flow probe (Transonic, TS420, UK) was used to measure the baseline blood flow in the proximal carotid artery. A 2 mm strip of filter paper saturated with 10% ferric chloride was introduced into the carotid artery adventitial surface for 1 min. Then the filter paper was removed, and blood flow through the carotid artery was then observed carefully for 45 min or until 95% vessel occlusion was achieved.