Journal article
In vivo study of experimental pneumococcal meningitis using magnetic resonance imaging
National Center for Antimicrobials and Infection Control, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark. ctb@ssi.dk1
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) methods were evaluated as a tool for the study of experimental meningitis. The identification and characterisation of pathophysiological parameters that vary during the course of the disease could be used as markers for future studies of new treatment strategies. Rats infected intracisternally with S. pneumoniae (n = 29) or saline (n = 13) were randomized for imaging at 6, 12, 24, 30, 36, 42 or 48 hours after infection.
T1W, T2W, quantitative diffusion, and post contrast T1W images were acquired at 4.7 T. Dynamic MRI (dMRI) was used to evaluate blood-brain-barrier (BBB) permeability and to obtain a measure of cerebral and muscle perfusion. Clinical- and motor scores, bacterial counts in CSF and blood, and WBC counts in CSF were measured.
MR images and dMRI revealed the development of a highly significant increase in BBB permeability (P < 0.002) and ventricle size (P < 0.0001) among infected rats. Clinical disease severity was closely related to ventricle expansion (P = 0.024). Changes in brain water distribution, assessed by ADC, and categorization of brain 'perfusion' by cortex DeltaSI(bolus) were subject to increased inter-rat variation as the disease progressed, but without overall differences compared to uninfected rats (P > 0.05).
Areas of well-'perfused' muscle decreased with the progression of infection indicative of septicaemia (P = 0.05). The evolution of bacterial meningitis was successfully followed in-vivo with MRI. Increasing BBB-breakdown and ventricle size was observed in rats with meningitis whereas changes in brain water distribution were heterogeneous.
MRI will be a valuable technique for future studies aiming at evaluating or optimizing adjunctive treatments.
Language: | English |
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Publisher: | BioMed Central |
Year: | 2008 |
Pages: | 1 |
ISSN: | 14712342 |
Types: | Journal article |
DOI: | 10.1186/1471-2342-8-1 |
ORCIDs: | Lundgren, Jens D and 0000-0002-3381-4380 |
Animals Blood-Brain Barrier Cerebral Ventricles Image Enhancement Magnetic Resonance Imaging Male Medical technology Meningitis, Pneumococcal R855-855.5 Rats Rats, Wistar Streptococcus pneumoniae Wistar rat animal animal experiment animal model animal tissue article bacterial count bacterial meningitis blood brain barrier blood level blood vessel permeability brain perfusion brain ventricle brain ventricle dilatation brain water cerebrospinal fluid analysis contrast enhancement controlled study disease course disease severity evaluation gadolinium pentetate histopathology image enhancement in vivo study leukocyte count male methodology motor performance muscle perfusion neuropathology nonhuman nuclear magnetic resonance imaging pathology rat scoring system septicemia