Journal
MAGNETIC RESONANCE IN MEDICINE
Volume 68, Issue 3, Pages 898-904Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/mrm.23281
Keywords
lung MRI; ultrashort echo time; emphysema; elastase; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Funding
- European Network PHELINET [MRTN-CT-2006-36002]
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Ultrashort echo time (550 mu s) MR imaging was implemented to track the emphysema development in mice lung challenged with elastase. Two parameters, namely, signal intensity and T?2*, were used to monitor the disease evolution. Nine mice were imaged before and at 24 h as well as at 3 and 8 weeks after elastase instillation. Five mice instilled with saline served as controls. At week 8, the mean normalized signal intensity +/- SD was 0.89 +/- 0.20 for healthy controls and 0.64 +/- 0.10 for animals with emphysema. Similarly, a reduced value of T?2* (1.27 +/- 0.35 ms vs 0.96 +/- 0.18 ms) was found in the emphysema group. The mean signal intensity drop and the reduction of T?2* were prominent at 3 weeks following elastase instillation and stabilized between 3 and 8 weeks. The results indicated an excellent agreement between MR findings and histological morphometry (signal intensity, r = -0.78, P = 0.004; T?2*, r = -0.78, P = 0.001). This result shows that proton MRI allows structural changes at alveolar level to be monitored longitudinally. This technique, applied routinely in preclinical trials will represent a valuable tool for assessment of drug therapy efficacy. Magn Reson Med, 2012. (c) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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