title: Correlation of in vivo and ex vivo (1)H-MRI with histology in two severities of mouse spinal cord injury.
abstract: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a debilitating neuropathology with no effective treatment. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology is the only method used to assess the impact of an injury on the structure and function of the human spinal cord. Moreover, in pre-clinical SCI research, MRI is a non-invasive method with great translational potential since it provides relevant longitudinal assessment of anatomical and structural alterations induced by an injury. It is only recently that MRI techniques have been effectively used for the follow-up of SCI in rodents. However, the vast majority of these studies have been carried out on rats and when conducted in mice, the contusion injury model was predominantly chosen. Due to the remarkable potential of transgenic mice for studying the pathophysiology of SCI, we examined the use of both in and ex vivo (1)H-MRI (9.4 T) in two severities of the mouse SCI (hemisection and over-hemisection) and documented their correlation with histological assessments. We demonstrated that a clear distinction between the two injury severities is possible using in and ex vivo (1)H-MRI and that ex vivo MR images closely correlate with histology. Moreover, tissue modifications at a remote location from the lesion epicenter were identified by conventional ex vivo MRI analysis. Therefore, in vivo MRI has the potential to accurately identify in mice the progression of tissue alterations induced by SCI and is successfully implemented by ex vivo MRI examination. This combination of in and ex vivo MRI follow-up associated with histopathological assessment provides a valuable approach for further studies intended to evaluate therapeutic strategies on SCI.
authors: Institute for Neurosciences of Montpellier, INSERM U1051 Montpellier, France.
authors: Harun N
authors: HN
authors: Noristani
authors: Institute for Neurosciences of Montpellier, INSERM U1051 Montpellier, France ; Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire Montpellier, Gui de Chauliac Hospital Montpellier, France.
authors: Nicolas
authors: N
authors: Lonjon
authors: Institute for Neurosciences of Montpellier, INSERM U1051 Montpellier, France.
authors: Maïda
authors: M
authors: Cardoso
authors: Institute for Neurosciences of Montpellier, INSERM U1051 Montpellier, France ; Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire Montpellier, Gui de Chauliac Hospital Montpellier, France.
authors: Marine
authors: M
authors: Le Corre
authors: Institute for Neurosciences of Montpellier, INSERM U1051 Montpellier, France ; Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire Montpellier, Gui de Chauliac Hospital Montpellier, France.
authors: Emilie
authors: E
authors: Chan-Seng
authors: Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire Montpellier, Lapeyronie Hospital, Chirurgie Orthopédique et Plastique Pédiatrique Montpellier, France.
authors: Guillaume
authors: G
authors: Captier
authors: Institute for Neurosciences of Montpellier, INSERM U1051 Montpellier, France.
authors: Alain
authors: A
authors: Privat
authors: Charles Coulomb Laboratory (L2C-BioNanoNMRI team), UMR 5221 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique -University Montpellier, France.
authors: Christophe
authors: C
authors: Coillot
authors: Charles Coulomb Laboratory (L2C-BioNanoNMRI team), UMR 5221 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique -University Montpellier, France.
authors: Christophe
authors: C
authors: Goze-Bac
authors: Institute for Neurosciences of Montpellier, INSERM U1051 Montpellier, France ; Department "Biologie-Mécanismes du Vivant," Faculty of Science, University of Montpellier Montpellier, France.
authors: Florence E
authors: FE
authors: Perrin
keywords: ex vivo MRI; histology; in vivo MRI; mice; spinal cord injuries