CD68 and ischemic stroke: Following MCAO in rats and mice, hypertrophic, CD68-positive mononuclear phagocytes, arising from both activated microglia and infiltrating monocytes become abundant in the infarcted area and the penumbra between 18 and 96 h after an ischemic stroke and have been described to peak between 7–14 days (Campanella et al., 2002; Hu et al., 2012).