Manganese-free chow, a refined non-invasive solution to reduce gastrointestinal signal for T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging of the mouse abdomen.

Commercial mouse chow is designed to provide a complete, nutrient-rich diet, and it can contain upwards of 100 mg/kg manganese, an essential mineral. Manganese acts as a relaxation time-shortening contrast agent for both T1 and T2, and where standard chow is hydrated in the gastrointestinal tract, bright signals are produced when using T1-weighted imaging (T1WI). As a result of peristalsis, gastrointestinal hyperintensities result in temporally unstable signals, leading to image ghosting and decreased resolution from that prescribed. To avoid the problem, various methods of gastrointestinal tract modulation, including the use of intestinal cleansing with laxatives and dietary modulation, have been reported. Here, dietary modulation has been extended to the use of a biologically innocuous, long-term change of diet. In this study, we report on the use of a commercially available manganese-free chow to improve the image quality of the gastrointestinal tract. This manganese-free chow, apart from the omitted manganese which is available in tap water, is a complete diet and readily available. We investigated the time-dependent, diet-related gastrointestinal intensities on short-TR T1WI magnetic resonance imaging; monitored body mass, food and water consumption and standard blood biochemistry analysis following diet change; and determined manganese concentration in blood plasma following a five-day change to manganese-free chow. We show that the manganese-free chow presents a refinement to other gastrointestinal tract modulation, as it avoids the need for invasive procedures for gut voiding and can be provided ad libitum so that animals can be maintained with no need for prescribed diet change before imaging.

A leukocyte-mimetic magnetic resonance imaging contrast agent homes rapidly to activated endothelium and tracks with atherosclerotic lesion macrophage content.

OBJECTIVE: Endothelial cell activation is an important mediator of monocyte recruitment to sites of vascular inflammation. We hypothesized that high-affinity dual-ligand microparticles of iron oxide (MPIO), targeted to P-selectin and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (PV-MPIO), would identify activated endothelial cells during atherosclerosis progression. METHODS AND RESULTS: In vivo magnetic resonance imaging in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice showed rapid binding of PV-MPIO to the aortic root, which was maximal 30 minutes post-MPIO injection and maintained at 60 minutes. Minimal binding was observed for control IgG-MPIO. Intensely low magnetic resonance signal areas, corresponding to PV-MPIO binding, were detected early (14 weeks), during foam cell formation. Contrast effects increased at 20 weeks during fibrofatty lesion development (P<0.05), but reduced by 30 weeks (P<0.01). Across all lesion severities, magnetic resonance imaging contrast effects correlated with lesion macrophage area quantified by immunohistochemistry (R=0.53; P<0.01). Near-infrared fluorescently labeled PV-MPIO were shown, by flow cytometry, to bind only activated endothelial cells and not to macrophages. Using en face immunofluorescence, we further demonstrate selective PV-MPIO accumulation at atherosclerosis-susceptible sites, with minimal binding to atherosclerosis-spared regions. CONCLUSIONS: This high-affinity leukocyte-mimetic magnetic resonance imaging agent reveals endothelial activation. PV-MPIO demonstrate exceptionally rapid in vivo steady state accumulation, providing conspicuous magnetic resonance contrast effects that can be objectively quantified. In atherosclerosis progression, PV-MPIO tracked closely with the burden and distribution of plaque macrophages, not merely plaque size. On a biocompatible platform, this approach has potential for quantitative magnetic resonance imaging of inflammatory disease activity.

Accelerating cine-MR imaging in mouse hearts using compressed sensing.

PURPOSE: To combine global cardiac function imaging with compressed sensing (CS) in order to reduce scan time and to validate this technique in normal mouse hearts and in a murine model of chronic myocardial infarction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To determine the maximally achievable acceleration factor, fully acquired cine data, obtained in sham and chronically infarcted (MI) mouse hearts were 2-4-fold undersampled retrospectively, followed by CS reconstruction and blinded image segmentation. Subsequently, dedicated CS sampling schemes were implemented at a preclinical 9.4 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, and 2- and 3-fold undersampled cine data were acquired in normal mouse hearts with high temporal and spatial resolution. RESULTS: The retrospective analysis demonstrated that an undersampling factor of three is feasible without impairing accuracy of cardiac functional parameters. Dedicated CS sampling schemes applied prospectively to normal mouse hearts yielded comparable left-ventricular functional parameters, and intra- and interobserver variability between fully and 3-fold undersampled data. CONCLUSION: This study introduces and validates an alternative means to speed up experimental cine-MRI without the need for expensive hardware.

Accelerated cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in the mouse using an eight-channel array at 9.4 Tesla.

MRI has become an important tool to noninvasively assess global and regional cardiac function, infarct size, or myocardial blood flow in surgically or genetically modified mouse models of human heart disease. Constraints on scan time due to sensitivity to general anesthesia in hemodynamically compromised mice frequently limit the number of parameters available in one imaging session. Parallel imaging techniques to reduce acquisition times require coil arrays, which are technically challenging to design at ultrahigh magnetic field strengths. This work validates the use of an eight-channel volume phased-array coil for cardiac MRI in mice at 9.4 T. Two- and three-dimensional sequences were combined with parallel imaging techniques and used to quantify global cardiac function, T(1)-relaxation times and infarct sizes. Furthermore, the rapid acquisition of functional cine-data allowed for the first time in mice measurement of left-ventricular peak filling and ejection rates under intravenous infusion of dobutamine. The results demonstrate that a threefold accelerated data acquisition is generally feasible without compromising the accuracy of the results. This strategy may eventually pave the way for routine, multiparametric phenotyping of mouse hearts in vivo within one imaging session of tolerable duration.

Advanced methods for quantification of infarct size in mice using three-dimensional high-field late gadolinium enhancement MRI.

Conventional methods to quantify infarct size after myocardial infarction in mice are not ideal, requiring either tissue destruction for histology or relying on nondirect measurements such as wall motion. We therefore implemented a fast, high-resolution method to directly measure infarct size in vivo using three-dimensional (3D) late gadolinium enhancement MRI (3D-LGE). Myocardial T1 relaxation was quantified at 9.4 Tesla in five mice, and reproducibility was tested by repeat imaging after 5 days. In a separate set of healthy and infarcted mice (n = 8 of each), continuous T1 measurements were made following intravenous or intraperitoneal injection of a contrast agent (0.5 micromol/g gadolinium-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid). The time course of T1 contrast development between viable and nonviable myocardium was thereby determined, with optimal postinjection imaging windows and inversion times identified. Infarct sizes were quantified using 3D-LGE and compared with triphenyltetrazolium chloride histology on day 1 after infarction (n = 8). Baseline myocardial T1 was highly reproducible: the mean value was 952 +/- 41 ms. T1 contrast peaked earlier after intravenous injection than with intraperitoneal injection; however, contrast between viable and nonviable myocardium was comparable for both routes (P = 0.31), with adequate contrast remaining for at least 60 min postinjection. Excellent correlation was obtained between infarct sizes derived from 3D-LGE and histology (r = 0.91, P = 0.002), and Bland-Altman analysis indicated good agreement free from systematic bias. We have validated an improved 3D MRI method to noninvasively quantify infarct size in mice with unsurpassed spatial resolution and tissue contrast. This method is particularly suited to studies requiring early quantification of initial infarct size, for example, to measure damage before intervention with stem cells.

Cardiac structure and function during ageing in energetically compromised Guanidinoacetate N-methyltransferase (GAMT)-knockout mice - a one year longitudinal MRI study.

BACKGROUND: High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (cine-MRI) is well suited for determining global cardiac function longitudinally in genetically or surgically manipulated mice, but in practice it is seldom used to its full potential. In this study, male and female guanidinoacetate N-methyltransferase (GAMT) knockout, and wild type littermate mice were subjected to a longitudinal cine-MRI study at four time points over the course of one year. GAMT is an essential enzyme in creatine biosynthesis, such that GAMT deficient mice are entirely creatine-free. Since creatine plays an important role in the buffering and transfer of high-energy phosphate bonds in the heart, it was hypothesized that lack of creatine would be detrimental for resting cardiac performance during ageing. METHODS: Measurements of cardiac structure (left ventricular mass and volumes) and function (ejection fraction, stroke volume, cardiac output) were obtained using high-resolution cine-MRI at 9.4 T under isoflurane anaesthesia. RESULTS: There were no physiologically significant differences in cardiac function between wild type and GAMT knockout mice at any time point for male or female groups, or for both combined (for example ejection fraction: 6 weeks (KO vs. WT): 70 +/- 6% vs. 65 +/- 7%; 4 months: 70 +/- 6% vs. 62 +/- 8%; 8 months: 62 +/- 11% vs. 62 +/- 6%; 12 months: 61 +/- 7% vs. 59 +/- 11%, respectively). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest the presence of comprehensive adaptations in the knockout mice that can compensate for a lack of creatine. Furthermore, this study clearly demonstrates the power of cine-MRI for accurate non-invasive, serial cardiac measurements. Cardiac growth curves could easily be defined for each group, in the same set of animals for all time points, providing improved statistical power, and substantially reducing the number of mice required to conduct such a study. This technique should be eminently useful for following changes of cardiac structure and function during ageing.

Ultra-fast and accurate assessment of cardiac function in rats using accelerated MRI at 9.4 Tesla.

MRI can accurately and reproducibly assess cardiac function in rodents but requires relatively long imaging times. Therefore, parallel imaging techniques using a 4-element RF-coil array and MR sequences for cardiac MRI in rats were implemented at ultra-high magnetic fields (9.4 Tesla [T]). The hypothesis that these developments would result in a major reduction in imaging time without loss of accuracy was tested on female Wistar rats under isoflurane anesthesia. High-resolution, contiguous short-axis slices (thickness 1.5 mm) were acquired covering the entire heart. Two interleaved data sets (i) with the volume coil (eight averages) and (ii) with the four-element coil array (one average) were obtained. In addition, two-, three-, and fourfold accelerated data sets were generated through postprocessing of the coil array data, followed by a TGRAPPA reconstruction, resulting in five data sets per rat (in-plane voxel size 100 x 100 microm). Using a single blinded operator, excellent agreement was obtained between volume coil (acquisition time: 88 min) and the fourfold accelerated (<3 min) data sets (e.g., LV mass 436 +/- 21 mg vs 433 +/- 19 mg; ejection fraction 74 +/- 5% vs 75 +/- 4%). This finding demonstrates that it is possible to complete a rat cine-MRI study under 3 min with low variability and without losing temporal or spatial resolution, making high throughput screening programs feasible.