['The inflammatory response within cerebral infarcts may have an influence on tissue damage. Since old animals with an impaired immune response have decreased inflammation after experimental cerebral infarction, we postulated that female animals with an increased immune response will have an increased inflammatory response after cerebral infarction.', 'Embolic cerebral infarcts were produced by photochemical irradiation of the right carotid artery in 12 female Fischer rats. The inflammatory response within 4-day-old infarcts was quantitated by histology with the use of computer-assisted image analysis and compared with that in 12 male rats from a previous series.', 'Severe infarcts had the most pronounced inflammatory response. Female rats had an increased inflammatory response in infarcts of all severity, which was statistically significant in severe cerebral infarcts even after adjustment for infarct size. Severe infarcts in males were significantly larger than those in females.'] Does gender influence the magnitude of the inflammatory response within embolic cerebral infarcts in young rats?