11.7 T MR Imaging Revealed Dilatation of Virchow–Robin Spaces within Hippocampus in Maternally Lipopolysaccharide-exposed Rats

Purpose: 11.7 Tesla MRI was examined to detect Virchow–Robin spaces (VRSs) smaller than 100 μm in the rat brain. The effects of maternal exposure to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were evaluated on basis of the number of dilated VRSs in the offspring rat brain. Methods: T2-weighted MRI with an in-plane re...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Magnetic Resonance in Medical Sciences 2017, Vol.16(1), pp.54-60
Main Authors: Ooi, Yasuhiro, Inui-Yamamoto, Chizuko, Yoshioka, Yoshichika, Seiyama, Akitoshi, Seki, Junji
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Animals
Brain
Brain damage
Brain injury
Dentate gyrus
dilated Virchow–Robin space
Exposure
Female
Gestation
hippocampal damage
Hippocampus
Hippocampus - diagnostic imaging
Hippocampus - drug effects
Hippocampus - physiopathology
Infections
Lipopolysaccharides
Lipopolysaccharides - administration & dosage
Magnetic resonance imaging
Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods
Male
maternal infection
Medical imaging
Mental disorders
Neonates
Neuroimaging
Offspring
Pregnancy
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - diagnostic imaging
Rats
Rats, Wistar
Rodents
Subarachnoid Space - pathology
ultra high-field T2-weighted MR imaging
Young adults
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Summary:Purpose: 11.7 Tesla MRI was examined to detect Virchow–Robin spaces (VRSs) smaller than 100 μm in the rat brain. The effects of maternal exposure to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were evaluated on basis of the number of dilated VRSs in the offspring rat brain. Methods: T2-weighted MRI with an in-plane resolution up to 78 μm (repetition time = 5000 ms, echo time = 35 ms, slice thickness = 250 μm, imaging plane, coronal) was applied to identify VRSs. The dilated VRSs were counted in the rat brain at 5 and 10 weeks of age. The dams of half the number in each group were treated with LPS during pregnancy, and the remaining half was employed as control. LPS injection in gestation period was used to simulate maternal infections, the method of which was widely accepted as a rat model inducing neuropsychiatric disorders in the offspring. Effects of LPS exposure on the offspring rat brain were statistically investigated. Results: VRSs as small as 78 μm were successfully detected by the ultra high-field MRI. All dilated VRSs were observed within lacunosum molecular layer of hippocampus, and molecular and granular layers of dentate gyrus around hippocampal fissure. In juvenile rats (5 weeks of age), the number of dilated VRSs was significantly increased in the prenatal LPS exposed rat brain (12.9 ± 2.4, n = 7) than in the control (5.3 ± 1.5, n = 7, P < 0.05), while in young adult rats (10 weeks of age), there was no significant difference in the number between the prenatal LPS exposed rat brain (3.6 ± 0.9, n = 5) and the control (2.6 ± 0.4, n = 5). Conclusion: The results of the present study suggested that maternal infection might cause dilatation of VRSs through neural damages especially in the dentate gyrus of the offspring rats. Thus, ultra high-field MRI can offer a promising diagnostic tool capable of determining the location of neonatal brain damage caused by maternal infections.
ISSN:1347-3182
1880-2206
DOI:10.2463/mrms.mp.2015-0090