Magnetic resonance microscopy quantifies the disease progression in Marfan syndrome mice.
OBJECTIVE
To use noninvasive magnetic resonance microscopy (MRM) to examine aneurysmal disease in the mouse model of Marfan syndrome (MFS).


METHODS
A total of eight wild-type (WT) and MFS mice were imaged using MRM; four of them at three different time points over an 8-week period and the remaining animals were imaged at one time point. The maximal cross-sectional area of the aorta was measured by manual tracing and by automated means from combined cardiac and respiratory-gated bright-blood images. Relationships between aortic size and age and the differences between WT and mutant mice aortic size were established.


RESULTS
Maximal cross-sectional aortic areas differed significantly (P < 0.05) between WT and mutant mice for all time points, with MFS mice having larger aortic size. There was a positive correlation between aortic size and age in MFS mice (r = 0.80) with a significant increase from the 14th to the 22nd week (P < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
MRM detected the differences in aortic size between WT and mutant mice over time, demonstrating a potential for noninvasive technique for the assessment of potential therapies in MFS mice.
Itskovich
Vitalii V
VV
Imaging Science Laboratories, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 10029-6574, USA.
Lieb
Mark
M
Aguinaldo
Juan Gilberto S
JG
Samber
Daniel D
DD
Ramirez
Francesco
F
Fayad
Zahi A
ZA
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001011:Aorta / Q000473:pathology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D018450:Disease Progression; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008382:Marfan Syndrome / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D008853:Microscopy