title: MR for the investigation of murine vasculature.
abstract: The investigation of alterations in vessel morphology of transgenic mouse models generally requires time-consuming and laborious planimetry of histological sections. This postmortem analysis is per se restricted to endpoint studies and, furthermore, may reflect the situation in vivo to a limited degree only. For the repetitive and noninvasive monitoring of dynamic changes in the murine vasculature, several protocols for high-resolution 3D MR angiography (MRA) at a vertical 9.4 T system are described. These protocols are based on flow-compensated 3D gradient echo sequences with application-dependent spatial resolution, resulting in voxel sizes between 1 and 13 nL. To ensure constant physiological conditions, particular attention is paid to minimize the acquisition time. All measurements are carried out without a contrast agent to avoid temporal inconstancy of the contrast-to-noise-ratio (CNR) as well as toxic side effects. Moreover, metabolic alterations as a consequence of disturbed vascularization and blood supply are monitored by (31)P MR spectroscopy.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Herz-und Kreislaufphysiologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität, Düsseldorf, Germany. christoph.jacoby@uni-duesseldorf.de
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jacoby
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Flögel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000473:pathology; D005263:Femoral Artery / Q000473:pathology; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods*