1
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Vinh To X, Kurniawan ND, Cumming P, Nasrallah FA. A cross-comparative analysis of in vivo versus ex vivo MRI indices in a mouse model of concussion. Brain Res 2023; 1820:148562. [PMID: 37673379 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2023.148562] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2023] [Revised: 08/01/2023] [Accepted: 08/31/2023] [Indexed: 09/08/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND We present a cross-sectional, case-matched, and pair-wise comparison of structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) measures in vivo and ex vivo in a mouse model of concussion, thus aiming to establish the concordance of structural and diffusion imaging findings in living brain and after fixation. METHODS We allocated 28 male mice aged 3-4 months to sham injury and concussion (CON) groups. CON mice had received a single concussive impact on day 0 and underwent MRI at day 2 (n = 9) or 7 (n = 10) post-impact, and sham control mice likewise underwent imaging at day 2 (n = 5) or 7 (n = 4). Immediately after the final scanning, we collected the perfusion-fixed brains, which were stored for imaging ex vivo 6-12 months later. We then compared the structural imaging, DTI, and NODDI results between different methods. RESULTS In vivo to ex vivo structural and DTI/NODDI findings were in notably poor agreement regarding the effects of concussion on structural integrity of the brain. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHODS ex vivo imaging was frequently done to study the effects of diseases and treatments, but our results showed that ex vivo and in vivo imaging can detect completely opposite and contradictory results. This is also the first study that compares in vivo and ex vivo NODDI. CONCLUSION Our findings call for caution in extrapolating translational capabilities obtained ex vivo to physiological measurements in vivo. The divergent findings may reflect fixation artefacts and the contribution of the glymphatic system changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuan Vinh To
- The Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Australia
| | | | - Paul Cumming
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Bern University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland; School of Psychology and Counselling, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Fatima A Nasrallah
- The Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Australia; Centre for Advanced Imaging, The University of Queensland, Australia.
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2
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Lindhardt TB, Skoven CS, Bordoni L, Østergaard L, Liang Z, Hansen B. Anesthesia-related brain microstructure modulations detected by diffusion magnetic resonance imaging. NMR Biomed 2023:e5033. [PMID: 37712335 DOI: 10.1002/nbm.5033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2022] [Revised: 07/06/2023] [Accepted: 08/09/2023] [Indexed: 09/16/2023]
Abstract
Recent studies have shown significant changes to brain microstructure during sleep and anesthesia. In vivo optical microscopy and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have attributed these changes to anesthesia and sleep-related modulation of the brain's extracellular space (ECS). Isoflurane anesthesia is widely used in preclinical diffusion MRI (dMRI) and it is therefore important to investigate if the brain's microstructure is affected by anesthesia to an extent detectable with dMRI. Here, we employ diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) to assess brain microstructure in the awake and anesthetized mouse brain (n = 22). We find both mean diffusivity (MD) and mean kurtosis (MK) to be significantly decreased in the anesthetized mouse brain compared with the awake state (p < 0.001 for both). This effect is observed in both gray matter and white matter. To further investigate the time course of these changes we introduce a method for time-resolved fast DKI. With this, we show the time course of the microstructural alterations in mice (n = 5) as they transition between states in an awake-anesthesia-awake paradigm. We find that the decrease in MD and MK occurs rapidly after delivery of gas isoflurane anesthesia and that values normalize only slowly when the animals return to the awake state. Finally, time-resolved fast DKI is employed in an experimental mouse model of brain edema (n = 4), where cell swelling causes the ECS volume to decrease. Our results show that isoflurane affects DKI parameters and metrics of brain microstructure and point to isoflurane causing a reduction in the ECS volume. The demonstrated DKI methods are suitable for in-bore perturbation studies, for example, for investigating microstructural modulations related to sleep/wake-dependent functions of the glymphatic system. Importantly, our study shows an effect of isoflurane anesthesia on rodent brain microstructure that has broad relevance to preclinical dMRI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Beck Lindhardt
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Sino-Danish Center for Education and Research, Aarhus, Denmark
- University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Christian Stald Skoven
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Luca Bordoni
- Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Letten Center, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Leif Østergaard
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Department of Radiology, Neuroradiology Research Unit, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Zhifeng Liang
- CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Sciences and Intelligence Technology, Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Brian Hansen
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
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3
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Thomson SB, Stam A, Brouwers C, Fodale V, Bresciani A, Vermeulen M, Mostafavi S, Petkau TL, Hill A, Yung A, Russell-Schulz B, Kozlowski P, MacKay A, Ma D, Beg MF, Evers MM, Vallès A, Leavitt BR. AAV5-miHTT-mediated huntingtin lowering improves brain health in a Huntington's disease mouse model. Brain 2023; 146:2298-2315. [PMID: 36508327 PMCID: PMC10232253 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awac458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2022] [Revised: 06/23/2022] [Accepted: 10/30/2022] [Indexed: 04/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Huntingtin (HTT)-lowering therapies show great promise in treating Huntington's disease. We have developed a microRNA targeting human HTT that is delivered in an adeno-associated serotype 5 viral vector (AAV5-miHTT), and here use animal behaviour, MRI, non-invasive proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy and striatal RNA sequencing as outcome measures in preclinical mouse studies of AAV5-miHTT. The effects of AAV5-miHTT treatment were evaluated in homozygous Q175FDN mice, a mouse model of Huntington's disease with severe neuropathological and behavioural phenotypes. Homozygous mice were used instead of the more commonly used heterozygous strain, which exhibit milder phenotypes. Three-month-old homozygous Q175FDN mice, which had developed acute phenotypes by the time of treatment, were injected bilaterally into the striatum with either formulation buffer (phosphate-buffered saline + 5% sucrose), low dose (5.2 × 109 genome copies/mouse) or high dose (1.3 × 1011 genome copies/mouse) AAV5-miHTT. Wild-type mice injected with formulation buffer served as controls. Behavioural assessments of cognition, T1-weighted structural MRI and striatal proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy were performed 3 months after injection, and shortly afterwards the animals were sacrificed to collect brain tissue for protein and RNA analysis. Motor coordination was assessed at 1-month intervals beginning at 2 months of age until sacrifice. Dose-dependent changes in AAV5 vector DNA level, miHTT expression and mutant HTT were observed in striatum and cortex of AAV5-miHTT-treated Huntington's disease model mice. This pattern of microRNA expression and mutant HTT lowering rescued weight loss in homozygous Q175FDN mice but did not affect motor or cognitive phenotypes. MRI volumetric analysis detected atrophy in four brain regions in homozygous Q175FDN mice, and treatment with high dose AAV5-miHTT rescued this effect in the hippocampus. Like previous magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies in Huntington's disease patients, decreased total N-acetyl aspartate and increased myo-inositol levels were found in the striatum of homozygous Q175FDN mice. These neurochemical findings were partially reversed with AAV5-miHTT treatment. Striatal transcriptional analysis using RNA sequencing revealed mutant HTT-induced changes that were partially reversed by HTT lowering with AAV5-miHTT. Striatal proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy analysis suggests a restoration of neuronal function, and striatal RNA sequencing analysis shows a reversal of transcriptional dysregulation following AAV5-miHTT in a homozygous Huntington's disease mouse model with severe pathology. The results of this study support the use of magnetic resonance spectroscopy in HTT-lowering clinical trials and strengthen the therapeutic potential of AAV5-miHTT in reversing severe striatal dysfunction in Huntington's disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah B Thomson
- Department of Medical Genetics, Centre for Molecular Medicine & Therapeutics, University of British Columbia and BC Children’s Hospital, Vancouver, BC V5Z4H4, Canada
| | - Anouk Stam
- Department of Research & Development, uniQure Biopharma B.V., 1105BP Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Cynthia Brouwers
- Department of Research & Development, uniQure Biopharma B.V., 1105BP Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Valentina Fodale
- Department of Translational Biology, IRBM S.p.A., Pomezia 00071, Italy
| | - Alberto Bresciani
- Department of Translational Biology, IRBM S.p.A., Pomezia 00071, Italy
| | - Michael Vermeulen
- Department of Medical Genetics, Centre for Molecular Medicine & Therapeutics, University of British Columbia and BC Children’s Hospital, Vancouver, BC V5Z4H4, Canada
| | - Sara Mostafavi
- Department of Medical Genetics, Centre for Molecular Medicine & Therapeutics, University of British Columbia and BC Children’s Hospital, Vancouver, BC V5Z4H4, Canada
| | - Terri L Petkau
- Department of Medical Genetics, Centre for Molecular Medicine & Therapeutics, University of British Columbia and BC Children’s Hospital, Vancouver, BC V5Z4H4, Canada
| | - Austin Hill
- Department of Medical Genetics, Centre for Molecular Medicine & Therapeutics, University of British Columbia and BC Children’s Hospital, Vancouver, BC V5Z4H4, Canada
| | - Andrew Yung
- UBC MRI Research Centre, Department of Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T2B5, Canada
| | - Bretta Russell-Schulz
- UBC MRI Research Centre, Department of Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T2B5, Canada
| | - Piotr Kozlowski
- UBC MRI Research Centre, Department of Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T2B5, Canada
| | - Alex MacKay
- UBC MRI Research Centre, Department of Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T2B5, Canada
| | - Da Ma
- Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, NC 27101, USA
| | - Mirza Faisal Beg
- School of Engineering Science, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A0A7, Canada
| | - Melvin M Evers
- Department of Research & Development, uniQure Biopharma B.V., 1105BP Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Astrid Vallès
- Department of Research & Development, uniQure Biopharma B.V., 1105BP Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Blair R Leavitt
- Department of Medical Genetics, Centre for Molecular Medicine & Therapeutics, University of British Columbia and BC Children’s Hospital, Vancouver, BC V5Z4H4, Canada
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4
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Sartoretti T, Ganley RP, Ni R, Freund P, Zeilhofer HU, Klohs J. Structural MRI Reveals Cervical Spinal Cord Atrophy in the P301L Mouse Model of Tauopathy: Gender and Transgene-Dosing Effects. Front Aging Neurosci 2022; 14:825996. [PMID: 35585865 PMCID: PMC9108240 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.825996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2021] [Accepted: 03/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In primary tauopathies, the deposition of tau neurofibrillary tangles and threads as well as neurodegenerative changes have been found within the brain and spinal cord. While degenerative changes have been intensively studied in the brain using structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), MRI studies investigating the spinal cord are still scarce. In the present study, we acquired ex vivo high resolution structural MRI of the cervical spinal cord of 8.5–9 month old hemizygous and homozygous P301L mice and non-transgenic littermates of both genders. We assessed the total cross-sectional area, and the gray and white matter anterior-posterior width and left-right width that are established imaging marker of spinal cord degeneration. We observed significant tissue-specific reductions in these parameters in female P301L mice that were stronger in homozygous than in hemizygous P301L mice, indicating both an effect of gender and transgene expression on cervical spinal cord atrophy. Moreover, atrophy was stronger in the gray matter than in the white matter. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory changes in the cervical spinal cord in both the gray and white matter of P301L mice. Collectively, our results provide evidence for cervical spinal cord atrophy that may directly contribute to the motor signs associated with tauopathy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Sartoretti
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH & University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Robert P. Ganley
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Ruiqing Ni
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH & University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Zurich Neuroscience Center (ZNZ), Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Patrick Freund
- Zurich Neuroscience Center (ZNZ), Zurich, Switzerland
- Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Hanns Ulrich Zeilhofer
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Zurich Neuroscience Center (ZNZ), Zurich, Switzerland
- Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Jan Klohs
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH & University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Zurich Neuroscience Center (ZNZ), Zurich, Switzerland
- *Correspondence: Jan Klohs
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5
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Sarker A, Suh M, Choi Y, Park JY, Kwon S, Kim H, Lee E, Seo H, Lee Y, Lee DS. [64Cu]Cu-Albumin Clearance Imaging to Evaluate Lymphatic Efflux of Cerebrospinal Space Fluid in Mouse Model. Nucl Med Mol Imaging. [DOI: 10.1007/s13139-022-00746-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2022] [Revised: 03/09/2022] [Accepted: 03/12/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022] Open
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6
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Ni R. Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Tauopathy Animal Models. Front Aging Neurosci 2022; 13:791679. [PMID: 35145392 PMCID: PMC8821905 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2021.791679] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2021] [Accepted: 12/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The microtubule-associated protein tau plays an important role in tauopathic diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and primary tauopathies such as progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal degeneration. Tauopathy animal models, such as transgenic, knock-in mouse and rat models, recapitulating tauopathy have facilitated the understanding of disease mechanisms. Aberrant accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau contributes to synaptic deficits, neuroinflammation, and neurodegeneration, leading to cognitive impairment in animal models. Recent advances in molecular imaging using positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have provided valuable insights into the time course of disease pathophysiology in tauopathy animal models. High-field MRI has been applied for in vivo imaging in animal models of tauopathy, including diffusion tensor imaging for white matter integrity, arterial spin labeling for cerebral blood flow, resting-state functional MRI for functional connectivity, volumetric MRI for neurodegeneration, and MR spectroscopy. In addition, MR contrast agents for non-invasive imaging of tau have been developed recently. Many preclinical MRI indicators offer excellent translational value and provide a blueprint for clinical MRI in the brains of patients with tauopathies. In this review, we summarized the recent advances in using MRI to visualize the pathophysiology of tauopathy in small animals. We discussed the outstanding challenges in brain imaging using MRI in small animals and propose a future outlook for visualizing tau-related alterations in the brains of animal models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruiqing Ni
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- *Correspondence: Ruiqing Ni,
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7
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Fernandes DJ, Spring S, Corre C, Tu A, Qiu LR, Hammill C, Vousden DA, Spencer Noakes TL, Nieman BJ, Bowdish DME, Foster JA, Palmert MR, Lerch JP. Mouse models of immune dysfunction: their neuroanatomical differences reflect their anxiety-behavioural phenotype. Mol Psychiatry 2022; 27:3047-55. [PMID: 35422470 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-022-01535-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2021] [Revised: 02/18/2022] [Accepted: 03/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Extensive evidence supports the role of the immune system in modulating brain function and behaviour. However, past studies have revealed striking heterogeneity in behavioural phenotypes produced from immune system dysfunction. Using magnetic resonance imaging, we studied the neuroanatomical differences among 11 distinct genetically modified mouse lines (n = 371), each deficient in a different element of the immune system. We found a significant and heterogeneous effect of immune dysfunction on the brains of both male and female mice. However, by imaging the whole brain and using Bayesian hierarchical modelling, we were able to identify patterns within the heterogeneous phenotype. Certain structures-such as the corpus callosum, midbrain, and thalamus-were more likely to be affected by immune dysfunction. A notable brain-behaviour relationship was identified with neuroanatomy endophenotypes across mouse models clustering according to anxiety-like behaviour phenotypes reported in literature, such as altered volume in brains regions associated with promoting fear response (e.g., the lateral septum and cerebellum). Interestingly, genes with preferential spatial expression in the most commonly affected regions are also associated with multiple sclerosis and other immune-mediated diseases. In total, our data suggest that the immune system modulates anxiety behaviour through well-established brain networks.
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8
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Massalimova A, Ni R, Nitsch RM, Reisert M, von Elverfeldt D, Klohs J. Diffusion Tensor Imaging Reveals Whole-Brain Microstructural Changes in the P301L Mouse Model of Tauopathy. NEURODEGENER DIS 2021; 20:173-184. [PMID: 33975312 DOI: 10.1159/000515754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2020] [Accepted: 03/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Increased expression of hyperphosphorylated tau and the formation of neurofibrillary tangles are associated with neuronal loss and white matter damage. Using high-resolution ex vivo diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), we investigated microstructural changes in the white and grey matter in the P301L mouse model of human tauopathy at 8.5 months of age. For unbiased computational analysis, we implemented a pipeline for voxel-based analysis (VBA) and atlas-based analysis (ABA) of DTI mouse brain data. METHODS Hemizygous and homozygous transgenic P301L mice and non-transgenic littermates were used. DTI data were acquired for generation of fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), radial diffusivity (RD), and axial diffusivity (AD) maps. VBA on the entire brain was performed using SPM8 and the SPM Mouse toolbox. Initially, all DTI maps were coregistered with the Allen mouse brain atlas to bring them to one common coordinate space. In VBA, coregistered DTI maps were normalized and smoothed in order to perform two-sample and unpaired t tests with false discovery rate correction to compare hemizygotes with non-transgenic littermates, homozygotes with non-transgenic littermates, and hemizygotes with homozygotes on each DTI parameter map. In ABA, the average values for selected regions of interests were computed with coregistered DTI maps and labels in Allen mouse brain atlas. Afterwards, a Kruskal-Wallis one-way ANOVA on ranks with a Tukey post hoc test was executed on the estimated average values. RESULTS With VBA, we found pronounced and brain-wide spread changes when comparing homozygous, P301L mice with non-transgenic littermates, which were not seen when comparing hemizygous P301L with non-transgenic animals. Statistical comparison of DTI metrics in selected brain regions by ABA corroborated findings from VBA. FA was found to be decreased in most brain regions, while MD, RD, and AD were increased in homozygotes compared to hemizygotes and non-transgenic littermates. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION High-resolution ex vivo DTI demonstrated brain-wide microstructural and gene-dose-dependent changes in the P301L mouse model of human tauopathy. The DTI analysis pipeline may serve for the phenotyping of models of tauopathy and other brain diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aidana Massalimova
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH & University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Ruiqing Ni
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH & University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Roger M Nitsch
- Zurich Neuroscience Center (ZNZ), Zurich, Switzerland.,Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Zurich, Schlieren, Switzerland
| | - Marco Reisert
- Department of Radiology, Medical Physics, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Dominik von Elverfeldt
- Department of Radiology, Medical Physics, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Jan Klohs
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH & University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Zurich Neuroscience Center (ZNZ), Zurich, Switzerland
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9
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Shi H, Ma D, Nie Y, Faisal Beg M, Pei J, Cao J, Neuroimaging Initiative TAD. Early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease on ADNI data using novel longitudinal score based on functional principal component analysis. J Med Imaging (Bellingham) 2021; 8:024502. [PMID: 33898638 DOI: 10.1117/1.jmi.8.2.024502] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2020] [Accepted: 03/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Methods: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a worldwide prevalent age-related neurodegenerative disease with no available cure yet. Early prognosis is therefore crucial for planning proper clinical intervention. It is especially true for people diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, to whom the prediction of whether and when the future disease onset would happen is particularly valuable. However, such prognostic prediction has been proven to be challenging, and previous studies have only achieved limited success. Approach: In this study, we seek to extract the principal component of the longitudinal disease progression trajectory in the early stage of AD, measured as the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-derived structural volume, to predict the onset of AD for mild cognitive impaired patients two years ahead. Results: Cross-validation results of LASSO regression using the longitudinal functional principal component (FPC) features show significant improved predictive power compared to training using the baseline volume 12 months before AD conversion [area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.802 versus 0.732] and 24 months before AD conversion (AUC of 0.816 versus 0.717). Conclusions: We present a framework using the FPCA to extract features from MRI-derived information collected from multiple timepoints. The results of our study demonstrate the advantageous predictive power of the population-based longitudinal features to predict the disease onset compared with using only cross-sectional data-based on volumetric features extracted from a single timepoint, demonstrating the improved prediction power using FPC-derived longitudinal features.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haolun Shi
- Simon Fraser University, Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, Burnaby, BC, Canada
| | - Da Ma
- Simon Fraser University, School of Engineering Science, Burnaby, BC, Canada
| | - Yunlong Nie
- Simon Fraser University, Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, Burnaby, BC, Canada
| | - Mirza Faisal Beg
- Simon Fraser University, School of Engineering Science, Burnaby, BC, Canada
| | - Jian Pei
- Simon Fraser University, Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, Burnaby, BC, Canada.,Simon Fraser University, School of Computing Science, Burnaby, BC, Canada
| | - Jiguo Cao
- Simon Fraser University, Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, Burnaby, BC, Canada.,Simon Fraser University, School of Computing Science, Burnaby, BC, Canada
| | - The Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative
- Simon Fraser University, Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, Burnaby, BC, Canada.,Simon Fraser University, School of Engineering Science, Burnaby, BC, Canada.,Simon Fraser University, School of Computing Science, Burnaby, BC, Canada
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10
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Fernandes DJ, Spring S, Roy AR, Qiu LR, Yee Y, Nieman BJ, Lerch JP, Palmert MR. Exposure to maternal high-fat diet induces extensive changes in the brain of adult offspring. Transl Psychiatry 2021; 11:149. [PMID: 33654064 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-021-01274-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2020] [Revised: 01/24/2021] [Accepted: 02/05/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Maternal environmental exposures, such as high-fat diets, diabetes and obesity, can induce long-term effects in offspring. These effects include increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), depression and anxiety. The mechanisms underlying these late-life neurologic effects are unknown. In this article, we measured changes in the offspring brain and determined which brain regions are sensitive to maternal metabolic milieu and therefore may mediate NDD risk. We showed that mice exposed to a maternal high-fat diet display extensive brain changes in adulthood despite being switched to a low-fat diet at weaning. Brain regions impacted by early-life diet include the extended amygdalar system, which plays an important role in reward-seeking behaviour. Genes preferentially expressed in these regions have functions related to feeding behaviour, while also being implicated in human NDDs, such as autism. Our data demonstrated that exposure to maternal high-fat diet in early-life leads to brain alterations that persist into adulthood, even after dietary modifications.
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11
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Llambrich S, Wouters J, Himmelreich U, Dierssen M, Sharpe J, Gsell W, Martínez-Abadías N, Vande Velde G. ViceCT and whiceCT for simultaneous high-resolution visualization of craniofacial, brain and ventricular anatomy from micro-computed tomography. Sci Rep 2020; 10:18772. [PMID: 33128010 PMCID: PMC7599226 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-75720-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2020] [Accepted: 10/13/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Up to 40% of congenital diseases present disturbances of brain and craniofacial development resulting in simultaneous alterations of both systems. Currently, the best available method to preclinically visualize the brain and the bones simultaneously is to co-register micro-magnetic resonance (µMR) and micro-computed tomography (µCT) scans of the same specimen. However, this requires expertise and access to both imaging techniques, dedicated software and post-processing knowhow. To provide a more affordable, reliable and accessible alternative, recent research has focused on optimizing a contrast-enhanced µCT protocol using iodine as contrast agent that delivers brain and bone images from a single scan. However, the available methods still cannot provide the complete visualization of both the brain and whole craniofacial complex. In this study, we have established an optimized protocol to diffuse the contrast into the brain that allows visualizing the brain parenchyma and the complete craniofacial structure in a single ex vivo µCT scan (whiceCT). In addition, we have developed a new technique that allows visualizing the brain ventricles using a bilateral stereotactic injection of iodine-based contrast (viceCT). Finally, we have tested both techniques in a mouse model of Down syndrome, as it is a neurodevelopmental disorder with craniofacial, brain and ventricle defects. The combined use of viceCT and whiceCT provides a complete visualization of the brain and bones with intact craniofacial structure of an adult mouse ex vivo using a single imaging modality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergi Llambrich
- Biomedical Imaging, Department of Imaging and Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49 O&N1 box 505, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.,Molecular Small Animal Imaging Centre (MoSAIC), KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jens Wouters
- Biomedical Imaging, Department of Imaging and Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49 O&N1 box 505, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.,Molecular Small Animal Imaging Centre (MoSAIC), KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Uwe Himmelreich
- Biomedical Imaging, Department of Imaging and Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49 O&N1 box 505, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.,Molecular Small Animal Imaging Centre (MoSAIC), KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Mara Dierssen
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, 08003, Barcelona, Spain.,Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), 08003, Barcelona, Spain
| | - James Sharpe
- EMBL Barcelona, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Barcelona, Spain Institució Catalana de Recerca I Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Willy Gsell
- Biomedical Imaging, Department of Imaging and Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49 O&N1 box 505, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.,Molecular Small Animal Imaging Centre (MoSAIC), KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Neus Martínez-Abadías
- GREAB-Research Group in Biological Anthropology. Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, BEECA. Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Greetje Vande Velde
- Biomedical Imaging, Department of Imaging and Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49 O&N1 box 505, 3000, Leuven, Belgium. .,Molecular Small Animal Imaging Centre (MoSAIC), KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
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12
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Fletcher EJR, Finlay CJ, Amor Lopez A, Crum WR, Vernon AC, Duty S. Neuroanatomical and Microglial Alterations in the Striatum of Levodopa-Treated, Dyskinetic Hemi-Parkinsonian Rats. Front Neurosci 2020; 14:567222. [PMID: 33041762 PMCID: PMC7522511 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2020.567222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2020] [Accepted: 08/17/2020] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Dyskinesia associated with chronic levodopa treatment in Parkinson’s disease is associated with maladaptive striatal plasticity. The objective of this study was to examine whether macroscale structural changes, as captured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) accompany this plasticity and to identify plausible cellular contributors in a rodent model of levodopa-induced dyskinesia. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were rendered hemi-parkinsonian by stereotaxic injection of 6-hydroxydopamine into the left medial forebrain bundle prior to chronic treatment with saline (control) or levodopa to induce abnormal involuntary movements (AIMs), reflective of dyskinesia. Perfusion-fixed brains underwent ex vivo structural MRI before sectioning and staining for cellular markers. Chronic treatment with levodopa induced significant AIMs (p < 0.0001 versus saline). The absolute volume of the ipsilateral, lesioned striatum was increased in levodopa-treated rats resulting in a significant difference in percentage volume change when compared to saline-treated rats (p < 0.01). Moreover, a significant positive correlation was found between this volume change and AIMs scores for individual levodopa-treated rats (r = 0.96; p < 0.01). The density of Iba1+ cells was increased within the lesioned versus intact striatum (p < 0.01) with no difference between treatment groups. Conversely, Iba1+ microglia soma size was significantly increased (p < 0.01) in the lesioned striatum of levodopa-treated but not saline-treated rats. Soma size was not, however, significantly correlated with either AIMs or MRI volume change. Although GFAP+ astrocytes were elevated in the lesioned versus intact striatum (p < 0.001), there was no difference between treatment groups. No statistically significant effects of either lesion or treatment on RECA1, a marker for blood vessels, were observed. Collectively, these data suggest chronic levodopa treatment in 6-hydroxydopamine lesioned rats is associated with increased striatal volume that correlates with the development of AIMs. The accompanying increase in number and size of microglia, however, cannot alone explain this volume expansion. Further multi-modal studies are warranted to establish the brain-wide effects of chronic levodopa treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edward J R Fletcher
- Wolfson Centre for Age Related Diseases, Wolfson Wing, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Clare J Finlay
- Wolfson Centre for Age Related Diseases, Wolfson Wing, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Ana Amor Lopez
- Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - William R Crum
- Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Anthony C Vernon
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.,MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Susan Duty
- Wolfson Centre for Age Related Diseases, Wolfson Wing, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
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13
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Popuri K, Ma D, Wang L, Beg MF. Using machine learning to quantify structural MRI neurodegeneration patterns of Alzheimer's disease into dementia score: Independent validation on 8,834 images from ADNI, AIBL, OASIS, and MIRIAD databases. Hum Brain Mapp 2020; 41:4127-4147. [PMID: 32614505 PMCID: PMC7469784 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2019] [Revised: 04/15/2020] [Accepted: 06/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Biomarkers for dementia of Alzheimer's type (DAT) are sought to facilitate accurate prediction of the disease onset, ideally predating the onset of cognitive deterioration. T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a commonly used neuroimaging modality for measuring brain structure in vivo, potentially providing information enabling the design of biomarkers for DAT. We propose a novel biomarker using structural MRI volume-based features to compute a similarity score for the individual's structural patterns relative to those observed in the DAT group. We employed ensemble-learning framework that combines structural features in most discriminative ROIs to create an aggregate measure of neurodegeneration in the brain. This classifier is trained on 423 stable normal control (NC) and 330 DAT subjects, where clinical diagnosis is likely to have the highest certainty. Independent validation on 8,834 unseen images from ADNI, AIBL, OASIS, and MIRIAD Alzheimer's disease (AD) databases showed promising potential to predict the development of DAT depending on the time-to-conversion (TTC). Classification performance on stable versus progressive mild cognitive impairment (MCI) groups achieved an AUC of 0.81 for TTC of 6 months and 0.73 for TTC of up to 7 years, achieving state-of-the-art results. The output score, indicating similarity to patterns seen in DAT, provides an intuitive measure of how closely the individual's brain features resemble the DAT group. This score can be used for assessing the presence of AD structural atrophy patterns in normal aging and MCI stages, as well as monitoring the progression of the individual's brain along with the disease course.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karteek Popuri
- School of Engineering ScienceSimon Fraser UniversityBarnabyBritish ColumbiaCanada
| | - Da Ma
- School of Engineering ScienceSimon Fraser UniversityBarnabyBritish ColumbiaCanada
| | - Lei Wang
- Feinberg School of MedicineNorthwestern UniversityEvanstonIllinoisUSA
| | - Mirza Faisal Beg
- School of Engineering ScienceSimon Fraser UniversityBarnabyBritish ColumbiaCanada
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14
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Ma D, Cardoso MJ, Zuluaga MA, Modat M, Powell NM, Wiseman FK, Cleary JO, Sinclair B, Harrison IF, Siow B, Popuri K, Lee S, Matsubara JA, Sarunic MV, Beg MF, Tybulewicz VLJ, Fisher EMC, Lythgoe MF, Ourselin S. Substantially thinner internal granular layer and reduced molecular layer surface in the cerebellar cortex of the Tc1 mouse model of down syndrome - a comprehensive morphometric analysis with active staining contrast-enhanced MRI. Neuroimage 2020; 223:117271. [PMID: 32835824 PMCID: PMC8417772 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2020] [Revised: 08/03/2020] [Accepted: 08/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Down Syndrome is a chromosomal disorder that affects the development of cerebellar cortical lobules. Impaired neurogenesis in the cerebellum varies among different types of neuronal cells and neuronal layers. In this study, we developed an imaging analysis framework that utilizes gadolinium-enhanced ex vivo mouse brain MRI. We extracted the middle Purkinje layer of the mouse cerebellar cortex, enabling the estimation of the volume, thickness, and surface area of the entire cerebellar cortex, the internal granular layer, and the molecular layer in the Tc1 mouse model of Down Syndrome. The morphometric analysis of our method revealed that a larger proportion of the cerebellar thinning in this model of Down Syndrome resided in the inner granule cell layer, while a larger proportion of the surface area shrinkage was in the molecular layer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Da Ma
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, United Kingdom; Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, University College London, United Kingdom; School of Engineering Science, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada.
| | - Manuel J Cardoso
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, United Kingdom; School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences, King's College London, United Kingdom
| | - Maria A Zuluaga
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, United Kingdom; Data Science Department, EURECOM, France
| | - Marc Modat
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, United Kingdom; School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences, King's College London, United Kingdom
| | - Nick M Powell
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, United Kingdom; Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, University College London, United Kingdom
| | - Frances K Wiseman
- UK Dementia Research Institute at University College London, UK London; Down Syndrome Consortium (LonDownS), London, United Kingdom
| | - Jon O Cleary
- Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, University College London, United Kingdom; Department of Radiology, Guy´s and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom; Melbourne Brain Centre Imaging Unit, Department of Medicine and Radiology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Benjamin Sinclair
- Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, University College London, United Kingdom
| | - Ian F Harrison
- Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, University College London, United Kingdom
| | - Bernard Siow
- Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, University College London, United Kingdom; The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Karteek Popuri
- School of Engineering Science, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
| | - Sieun Lee
- School of Engineering Science, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
| | - Joanne A Matsubara
- Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Marinko V Sarunic
- School of Engineering Science, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
| | - Mirza Faisal Beg
- School of Engineering Science, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
| | - Victor L J Tybulewicz
- The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom; Department of Immunology and Inflammation, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Mark F Lythgoe
- Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, University College London, United Kingdom
| | - Sebastien Ourselin
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, United Kingdom; School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences, King's College London, United Kingdom
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15
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Taylor EN, Huang N, Wisco J, Wang Y, Morgan KG, Hamilton JA. The brains of aged mice are characterized by altered tissue diffusion properties and cerebral microbleeds. J Transl Med 2020; 18:277. [PMID: 32641073 PMCID: PMC7346388 DOI: 10.1186/s12967-020-02441-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2020] [Accepted: 06/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Brain aging is a major risk factor in the progression of cognitive diseases including Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and vascular dementia. We investigated a mouse model of brain aging up to 24 months old (mo). Methods A high field (11.7T) MRI protocol was developed to characterize specific features of brain aging including the presence of cerebral microbleeds (CMBs), morphology of grey and white matter, and tissue diffusion properties. Mice were selected from age categories of either young (3 mo), middle-aged (18 mo), or old (24 mo) and fed normal chow over the duration of the study. Mice were imaged in vivo with multimodal MRI, including conventional T2-weighted (T2W) and T2*-weighted (T2*W) imaging, followed by ex vivo diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and T2*W MR-microscopy to enhance the detection of microstructural features. Results Structural changes observed in the mouse brain with aging included reduced cortical grey matter volume and enlargement of the brain ventricles. A remarkable age-related change in the brains was the development of CMBs found starting at 18 mo and increasing in total volume at 24 mo, primarily in the thalamus. CMBs presence was confirmed with high resolution ex vivo MRI and histology. DWI detected further brain tissue changes in the aged mice including reduced fractional anisotropy, increased radial diffusion, increased mean diffusion, and changes in the white matter fibers visualized by color-coded tractography, including around a large cortical CMB. Conclusions The mouse is a valuable model of age-related vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID). In composite, these methods and results reveal brain aging in older mice as a multifactorial process including CMBs and tissue diffusion alterations that can be well characterized by high field MRI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik N Taylor
- Department of Radiology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA. .,Department of Physiology & Biophysics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA. .,Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Nasi Huang
- Department of Physiology & Biophysics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jonathan Wisco
- Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Yandan Wang
- Department of Health Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - James A Hamilton
- Department of Physiology & Biophysics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA. .,Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
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16
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To XV, Benetatos J, Soni N, Liu D, Mehari Abraha H, Yan W, Panagiotopoulou O, Nasrallah FA. Ultra-High-Field Diffusion Tensor Imaging Identifies Discrete Patterns of Concussive Injury in the Rodent Brain. J Neurotrauma 2020; 38:967-982. [PMID: 32394788 DOI: 10.1089/neu.2019.6944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Although concussions can result in persistent neurological post-concussion symptoms, they are typically invisible on routine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. Our study aimed to investigate the use of ultra-high-field diffusion tensor imaging (UHF-DTI) in discerning severity-dependent microstructural changes in the mouse brain following a concussion. Twenty-three C57BL/6 mice were randomly allocated into three groups: the low concussive (LC, n = 9) injury group, the high concussive (HC, n = 6) injury group, and the sham control (SC, n = 7) group. Mice were perfused on day 2 post-injury, and the brains were scanned on a 16.4T MRI scanner with UHF-DTI and neurite orientation dispersion imaging (NODDI). Finite element analysis (FEA) was performed to determine the pattern and extent of the physical impact on the brain tissue. MRI findings were correlated with histopathological analysis in a subset of mice. In the LC group, increased fractional anisotropy (FA) and decreased orientation dispersion index (ODI) but limited neurite density index (NDI) changes were found in the gray matter, and minimal changes to white matter (WM) were observed. The HC group presented increased mean diffusivity (MD), decreased NDI, and decreased ODI in the WM and gray matter (GM); decreased FA was also found in a small area of the WM. WM changes were associated with WM degeneration and neuroinflammation. FEA showed varying region-dependent degrees of stress, in line with the different imaging findings. This study provides evidence that UHF-DTI combined with NODDI can detect concussions of variable intensities. This has significant implications for the diagnosis of concussion in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuan Vinh To
- The Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Joseph Benetatos
- The Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Neha Soni
- The Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Dedao Liu
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Hyab Mehari Abraha
- Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Wenyi Yan
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Olga Panagiotopoulou
- Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Fatima A Nasrallah
- The Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.,The Center for Advanced Imaging, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
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17
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Wood TC, Edye ME, Harte MK, Neill JC, Prinssen EP, Vernon AC. Mapping the impact of exposure to maternal immune activation on juvenile Wistar rat brain macro- and microstructure during early post-natal development. Brain Neurosci Adv 2019; 3:2398212819883086. [PMID: 31742236 PMCID: PMC6861131 DOI: 10.1177/2398212819883086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Maternal immune activation is consistently associated with elevated risk for multiple psychiatric disorders in the affected offspring. Related to this, an important goal of our work is to explore the impact of maternal immune activation effects across the lifespan. In this context, we recently reported the effects of polyriboinosinic-polyribocytidylic acid-induced maternal immune activation at gestational day 15, immediately prior to birth, at gestational day 21 and again at post-natal day 21, providing a systematic assessment of plasma interleukin 6, body temperature and weight alterations in pregnant rats and preliminary evidence for gross morphological changes and microglial neuropathology in both male and female offsprings at these time points. Here, we sought to complement and extend these data by characterising in more detail the mesoscale impact of gestational polyriboinosinic-polyribocytidylic acid exposure at gestational day 15 on the neuroanatomy of the juvenile (post-natal day 21) rat brain using high-resolution, ex vivo anatomical magnetic resonance imaging in combination with atlas-based segmentation. Our preliminary data suggest subtle neuroanatomical effects of gestational polyriboinosinic-polyribocytidylic acid exposure (n = 10) relative to saline controls (n = 10) at this time-point. Specifically, we found an increase in the relative volume of the diagonal domain in polyriboinosinic-polyribocytidylic acid offspring (p < 0.01 uncorrected), which just failed to pass stringent multiple comparisons correction (actual q = 0.07). No statistically significant microstructural alterations were detectable using diffusion tensor imaging. Further studies are required to map the proximal effects of maternal immune activation on the developing rodent brain from foetal to early post-natal life and confirm our findings herein.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tobias C Wood
- Centre for Neuroimaging Sciences, Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Michelle E Edye
- Division of Pharmacy and Optometry, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Biology and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Michael K Harte
- Division of Pharmacy and Optometry, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Biology and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Joanna C Neill
- Division of Pharmacy and Optometry, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Biology and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Eric P Prinssen
- Roche Innovation Centre Basel, Grenzacherstrasse, Switzerland
| | - Anthony C Vernon
- Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute, Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.,MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Guy's Hospital Campus, King's College London, London, UK
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