Assessment of Myocardial Fibrosis in Mice Using a T2*-Weighted 3D Radial Magnetic Resonance Imaging Sequence

Bastiaan J. van Nierop; Noortje A. M. Bax; Jules L. Nelissen; Fatih Arslan; Abdallah G. Motaal; Larry de Graaf; Jaco J. M. Zwanenburg; Peter R. Luijten; Klaas Nicolay; Gustav J. Strijkers

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0129899

Assessment of Myocardial Fibrosis in Mice Using a T2*-Weighted 3D Radial Magnetic Resonance Imaging Sequence

Bastiaan J. van Nierop, Noortje A. M. Bax, Jules L. Nelissen, Fatih Arslan, Abdallah G. Motaal, Larry de Graaf, Jaco J. M. Zwanenburg, Peter R. Luijten, Klaas Nicolay, Gustav J. Strijkers^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Background

Myocardial fibrosis is a common hallmark of many diseases of the heart. Late gadolinium enhanced MRI is a powerful tool to image replacement fibrosis after myocardial infarction (MI). Interstitial fibrosis can be assessed indirectly from an extracellular volume fraction measurement using contrast-enhanced T1 mapping. Detection of short T2* species resulting from fibrotic tissue may provide an attractive non-contrast-enhanced alternative to directly visualize the presence of both replacement and interstitial fibrosis.

Objective

To goal of this paper was to explore the use of a T2*-weighted radial sequence for the visualization of fibrosis in mouse heart.

Methods C57BL/6 mice were studied with MI (n = 20, replacement fibrosis), transverse aortic constriction (TAC) (n = 18, diffuse fibrosis), and as control (n = 10). 3D center-out radial T2*-weighted images with varying TE were acquired in vivo and ex vivo (TE = 21 mu s-4 ms). Ex vivo T2*-weighted signal decay with TE was analyzed using a 3-component model. Subtraction of short-and long-TE images was used to highlight fibrotic tissue with short T2*. The presence of fibrosis was validated using histology and correlated to MRI findings.

Results

Detailed ex vivo T2*-weighted signal analysis revealed a fast (T2*(fast)), slow (T2*(slow)) and lipid (T2*(lipid)) pool. T2*(fast) remained essentially constant. Infarct T2*(slow) decreased significantly, while a moderate decrease was observed in remote tissue in post-MI hearts and in TAC hearts. T2*(slow) correlated with the presence of diffuse fibrosis in TAC hearts (r = 0.82, P = 0.01). Ex vivo and in vivo subtraction images depicted a positive contrast in the infarct co-localizing with the scar. Infarct volumes from histology and subtraction images linearly correlated (r = 0.94, P

Original language	English
Article number	0129899
Number of pages	15
Journal	PLoS ONE [E]
Volume	10
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0129899
Publication status	Published - 26 Jun 2015

Keywords

Animals
Cardiomyopathies
Disease Models, Animal
Fibrosis
Imaging, Three-Dimensional
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Mice
Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

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@article{128bc2beff6e404295441fc2cbde32ec,

title = "Assessment of Myocardial Fibrosis in Mice Using a T2*-Weighted 3D Radial Magnetic Resonance Imaging Sequence",

abstract = "BackgroundMyocardial fibrosis is a common hallmark of many diseases of the heart. Late gadolinium enhanced MRI is a powerful tool to image replacement fibrosis after myocardial infarction (MI). Interstitial fibrosis can be assessed indirectly from an extracellular volume fraction measurement using contrast-enhanced T1 mapping. Detection of short T2* species resulting from fibrotic tissue may provide an attractive non-contrast-enhanced alternative to directly visualize the presence of both replacement and interstitial fibrosis.ObjectiveTo goal of this paper was to explore the use of a T2*-weighted radial sequence for the visualization of fibrosis in mouse heart.Methods C57BL/6 mice were studied with MI (n = 20, replacement fibrosis), transverse aortic constriction (TAC) (n = 18, diffuse fibrosis), and as control (n = 10). 3D center-out radial T2*-weighted images with varying TE were acquired in vivo and ex vivo (TE = 21 mu s-4 ms). Ex vivo T2*-weighted signal decay with TE was analyzed using a 3-component model. Subtraction of short-and long-TE images was used to highlight fibrotic tissue with short T2*. The presence of fibrosis was validated using histology and correlated to MRI findings.ResultsDetailed ex vivo T2*-weighted signal analysis revealed a fast (T2*(fast)), slow (T2*(slow)) and lipid (T2*(lipid)) pool. T2*(fast) remained essentially constant. Infarct T2*(slow) decreased significantly, while a moderate decrease was observed in remote tissue in post-MI hearts and in TAC hearts. T2*(slow) correlated with the presence of diffuse fibrosis in TAC hearts (r = 0.82, P = 0.01). Ex vivo and in vivo subtraction images depicted a positive contrast in the infarct co-localizing with the scar. Infarct volumes from histology and subtraction images linearly correlated (r = 0.94, P",

keywords = "Animals, Cardiomyopathies, Disease Models, Animal, Fibrosis, Imaging, Three-Dimensional, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Mice, Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't",

author = "{van Nierop}, {Bastiaan J.} and Bax, {Noortje A. M.} and Nelissen, {Jules L.} and Fatih Arslan and Motaal, {Abdallah G.} and {de Graaf}, Larry and Zwanenburg, {Jaco J. M.} and Luijten, {Peter R.} and Klaas Nicolay and Strijkers, {Gustav J.}",

year = "2015",

month = jun,

day = "26",

doi = "10.1371/journal.pone.0129899",

language = "English",

volume = "10",

journal = "PLoS ONE [E]",

issn = "1932-6203",

publisher = "Public Library of Science",

number = "6",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Assessment of Myocardial Fibrosis in Mice Using a T2*-Weighted 3D Radial Magnetic Resonance Imaging Sequence

AU - van Nierop, Bastiaan J.

AU - Bax, Noortje A. M.

AU - Nelissen, Jules L.

AU - Arslan, Fatih

AU - Motaal, Abdallah G.

AU - de Graaf, Larry

AU - Zwanenburg, Jaco J. M.

AU - Luijten, Peter R.

AU - Nicolay, Klaas

AU - Strijkers, Gustav J.

PY - 2015/6/26

Y1 - 2015/6/26

N2 - BackgroundMyocardial fibrosis is a common hallmark of many diseases of the heart. Late gadolinium enhanced MRI is a powerful tool to image replacement fibrosis after myocardial infarction (MI). Interstitial fibrosis can be assessed indirectly from an extracellular volume fraction measurement using contrast-enhanced T1 mapping. Detection of short T2* species resulting from fibrotic tissue may provide an attractive non-contrast-enhanced alternative to directly visualize the presence of both replacement and interstitial fibrosis.ObjectiveTo goal of this paper was to explore the use of a T2*-weighted radial sequence for the visualization of fibrosis in mouse heart.Methods C57BL/6 mice were studied with MI (n = 20, replacement fibrosis), transverse aortic constriction (TAC) (n = 18, diffuse fibrosis), and as control (n = 10). 3D center-out radial T2*-weighted images with varying TE were acquired in vivo and ex vivo (TE = 21 mu s-4 ms). Ex vivo T2*-weighted signal decay with TE was analyzed using a 3-component model. Subtraction of short-and long-TE images was used to highlight fibrotic tissue with short T2*. The presence of fibrosis was validated using histology and correlated to MRI findings.ResultsDetailed ex vivo T2*-weighted signal analysis revealed a fast (T2*(fast)), slow (T2*(slow)) and lipid (T2*(lipid)) pool. T2*(fast) remained essentially constant. Infarct T2*(slow) decreased significantly, while a moderate decrease was observed in remote tissue in post-MI hearts and in TAC hearts. T2*(slow) correlated with the presence of diffuse fibrosis in TAC hearts (r = 0.82, P = 0.01). Ex vivo and in vivo subtraction images depicted a positive contrast in the infarct co-localizing with the scar. Infarct volumes from histology and subtraction images linearly correlated (r = 0.94, P

AB - BackgroundMyocardial fibrosis is a common hallmark of many diseases of the heart. Late gadolinium enhanced MRI is a powerful tool to image replacement fibrosis after myocardial infarction (MI). Interstitial fibrosis can be assessed indirectly from an extracellular volume fraction measurement using contrast-enhanced T1 mapping. Detection of short T2* species resulting from fibrotic tissue may provide an attractive non-contrast-enhanced alternative to directly visualize the presence of both replacement and interstitial fibrosis.ObjectiveTo goal of this paper was to explore the use of a T2*-weighted radial sequence for the visualization of fibrosis in mouse heart.Methods C57BL/6 mice were studied with MI (n = 20, replacement fibrosis), transverse aortic constriction (TAC) (n = 18, diffuse fibrosis), and as control (n = 10). 3D center-out radial T2*-weighted images with varying TE were acquired in vivo and ex vivo (TE = 21 mu s-4 ms). Ex vivo T2*-weighted signal decay with TE was analyzed using a 3-component model. Subtraction of short-and long-TE images was used to highlight fibrotic tissue with short T2*. The presence of fibrosis was validated using histology and correlated to MRI findings.ResultsDetailed ex vivo T2*-weighted signal analysis revealed a fast (T2*(fast)), slow (T2*(slow)) and lipid (T2*(lipid)) pool. T2*(fast) remained essentially constant. Infarct T2*(slow) decreased significantly, while a moderate decrease was observed in remote tissue in post-MI hearts and in TAC hearts. T2*(slow) correlated with the presence of diffuse fibrosis in TAC hearts (r = 0.82, P = 0.01). Ex vivo and in vivo subtraction images depicted a positive contrast in the infarct co-localizing with the scar. Infarct volumes from histology and subtraction images linearly correlated (r = 0.94, P

KW - Animals

KW - Cardiomyopathies

KW - Disease Models, Animal

KW - Fibrosis

KW - Imaging, Three-Dimensional

KW - Magnetic Resonance Imaging

KW - Male

KW - Mice

KW - Journal Article

KW - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0129899

DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0129899

M3 - Article

C2 - 26115443

SN - 1932-6203

VL - 10

JO - PLoS ONE [E]

JF - PLoS ONE [E]

IS - 6

M1 - 0129899

ER -

Assessment of Myocardial Fibrosis in Mice Using a T2*-Weighted 3D Radial Magnetic Resonance Imaging Sequence

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