Transverse relaxation time reflects brain amyloidosis in young APP/PS1 transgenic mice.
Amyloid deposits are one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD), one of the most devastating neurodegenerative disorders. In transgenic mice modeling Alzheimer's pathology, the MR transverse relaxation time (T(2)) has been described to be modulated by amyloidosis. This modification has been attributed to the age-related iron deposition that occurs within the amyloid plaques of old animals. In the present study, young APP/PS1 transgenic mice without histochemically detectable iron in the brain were specifically studied. In vivo measurements of T(2) in the hippocampus, at the level of the subiculum, were shown to reflect the density of amyloid plaques. This suggests that T(2) variations can be induced solely by aggregated amyloid deposits in the absence of associated histologically-detectable iron. Thus T(2) from regions with high amyloid load, such as the subiculum, is particularly well suited for following plaque deposition in young animals, i.e., at the earliest stages of the pathological process.
INSERM, U759, Centre Universitaire, Orsay, France.|Institut Curie Research Center, Centre Universitaire, Orsay, France.
Nadine El Tannir
NET
El Tayara
INSERM, U759, Centre Universitaire, Orsay, France.|Institut Curie Research Center, Centre Universitaire, Orsay, France.
Andreas
A
Volk
INSERM, U759, Centre Universitaire, Orsay, France.|Institut Curie Research Center, Centre Universitaire, Orsay, France.|CEA, SHFJ, URA CEA CNRS 2210, Orsay, France.
Marc
M
Dhenain
Laboratoire NAMC, CNRS, UMR 8620, Bât 446, Université Paris Sud, Orsay, France.
Benoît
B
Delatour
D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D000682:Amyloid / Q000032:analysis*; D000686:Amyloidosis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D000818:Animals; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000737:chemistry*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic
D000682:Amyloid