In vivo visualization of reactive gliosis using manganese-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging.
Reactive astrogliosis occurs after diverse central nervous system (CNS) insults. While astrogliosis provides protection against inflammation, it is also obstructive in the progress of neuranagenesis after CNS insults. Thus, a method that enables in vivo visualization and tissue characterization for gliosis would be invaluable for studies of CNS insults and corresponding treatments. Manganese has proven to be a useful MRI contrast agent that enters cells via Ca(2+) channels and has been applied to manganese-enhanced MRI (MEMRI) for neuronal functional mapping. This study investigated whether MEMRI can detect astrogliosis after focal ischemia in vivo. Rats were divided into groups according to the number of days after either transient middle cerebral artery occlusion or a sham. Ring- or crescent-shaped enhancement of MEMRI corresponded to the GFAP-positive astroglia observed in the peripheral region of the ischemic core 11 days after middle cerebral artery occlusion. This indicates that MEMRI enhancement predominantly reflects reactive astrogliosis after stroke.
Kawai
Yuko
Y
Department of Neurosurgery, Meiji University of Integrative Medicine, Kyoto, 629-0392, Japan.
Aoki
Ichio
I
Umeda
Masahiro
M
Higuchi
Toshihiro
T
Kershaw
Jeff
J
Higuchi
Makoto
M
Silva
Afonso C
AC
Tanaka
Chuzo
C
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D002712:Chlorides; D003287:Contrast Media; D005911:Gliosis / Q000473:pathology*; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D017895:Manganese Compounds; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D002712:Chlorides; D003287:Contrast Media; D017895:Manganese Compounds; C025340:manganese chloride