Open AccessNeurovascular imaging with QUTE-CE MRI in APOE4 rats reveals early vascular abnormalities
Author(s) -
Joshua Leaston,
Craig F. Ferris,
Praveen Kulkarni,
Chandramohan Dhasarathan,
Anne L. van de Ven,
Junfei Qiao,
Liam Timms,
Jorge Sepulcre,
Georges El Fakhri,
Chao Ma,
Marc D. Normandin,
Codi Gharagouzloo
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0256749
Subject(s) - neurovascular bundle , abnormality , magnetic resonance imaging , medicine , pathology , neuroimaging , pathological , cerebellum , radiology , neuroscience , biology , psychiatry
Cerebrovascular abnormality is linked to Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRDs). ApoE-Ɛ4 (APOE4) is known to play a critical role in neurovascular dysfunction, however current medical imaging technologies are limited in quantification. This cross-sectional study tested the feasibility of a recently established imaging modality, quantitative ultra-short time-to-echo contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (QUTE-CE MRI), to identify small vessel abnormality early in development of human APOE4 knock-in female rat (TGRA8960) animal model. At 8 months, 48.3% of the brain volume was found to have significant signal increase (75/173 anatomically segmented regions; q<0.05 for multiple comparisons). Notably, vascular abnormality was detected in the tri-synaptic circuit, cerebellum, and amygdala, all of which are known to functionally decline throughout AD pathology and have implications in learning and memory. The detected abnormality quantified with QUTE-CE MRI is likely a result of hyper-vascularization, but may also be partly, or wholly, due to contributions from blood-brain-barrier leakage. Further exploration with histological validation is warranted to verify the pathological cause. Regardless, these results indicate that QUTE-CE MRI can detect neurovascular dysfunction with high sensitivity with APOE4 and may be helpful to provide new insights into health and disease.