Brain of rats intoxicated with acrylamide: observation with 4.7 tesla magnetic resonance.

When rats were injected intraperitoneally with acrylamide (50 mg/kg per day) for 8 days, all animals developed ataxia and weakness in the hindlimbs. On examining their brain with an ultrahigh-field (4.7 T) magnetic resonance (MR) spectrometer, the lateral ventricles on both sides and the third ventricle were dilated. The aqueduct and cisterns were also enlarged. The size of the cerebral cortex was quantified in three MR image slices covering the cerebrum. Compared with the images of the brain of body weight-matched controls, the cerebral cortex of rats intoxicated with acrylamide was found to be smaller in the primary motor area in all slices, and in the primary or secondary sensory area in two slices. Taken together with previous enzymatic analyses, rats intoxicated with acrylamide (50 mg/kg per day for 8 days) seem to represent an animal model of acrylamide encephalopathy not only biochemically but also structurally.