Value of T1rho in quantitative diagnosis of liver fibrosis in rats / 中国医学影像技术

ABSTRACT

Objective: To investigate the value of T1rho in quantitative diagnosis of liver fibrosis in rats. Methods: Totally 45 SD rats were selected as the experimental group, and liver fibrosis models were established through intraperitoneal injection of 40% CCl4 olive oil solution, while 12 rats were injected with equal normal saline solution in abdomen and enrolled in control group. MR scans were performed on 5-6 rats in experimental group and 2 rats in control group on the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th and 10th week after injection started. The liver of rat was taken out for pathology use, and fibrosis staging was performed after MR scan. Results: T1rho values of liver fibrosis for F0-F6 were (40.68±1.60)ms, (42.80±1.08)ms, (44.98±1.04)ms, (46.47±3.47)ms, (47.73±3.84)ms, (55.38±7.46)ms and (57.08±5.11)ms, respectively. The overall difference was statistically significant (F=30.72, P<0.01). T1rho values in liver of rat was positively correlated with liver fibrosis stage (r=0.88, P<0.01), while the expression level of α-smooth muscle actin was positively correlated with liver fibrosis stages (r=0.74, P<0.01) and T1rho values (r=0.57, P<0.01). Conclusion: MR T1rho can be used to quantitatively and noninvasively evaluate the degree of liver fibrosis in rats.