Joao Piraquive^1,2, Franck Desmoulin^2,3, José Manuel Fernandez-Real⁴, Rémy Burcelin¹, Xavier Collet^1,2, and Anne Bouloumié^1
1Institute of Metabolic and Cardiovascular Diseases (I2MC), Team Dynamix, Toulouse, France, ²Regional center of functional exploration and experimental resources (CREFRE), Noninvasive exploration service (ENI), Toulouse, France, ³Toulouse NeuroImaging Center (ToNIC), INSERM UMR 2314/UPS, Toulouse, France, ⁴Unitat de Diabetologia, Endocrinologia i Nutricio, University Hospital of Girona Dr. Josep Trueta, Girona, Spain

 In this project, mice devoid of microbiota were transplanted with human microbiota from obese patients. Our work focused on evaluating and comparing the lipid composition in the white adipose in mice with different gut microbiota backgrounds using MRS. Our findings showed differences in white adipose tissue storage, lipid composition, and fatty acid composition among the different groups. This suggests that MRS can be used as a noninvasive tool to monitor dysbiotic gut microbiota in obese patients and evaluate a potential therapeutic response for obesity.

 

 

Anthony Christodoulou¹, Margaret Caroline Stapleton², Devin Raine Everaldo Cortes³, Eric Goetzman⁴, Cecilia Lo², Michael Epperly ⁵, Joel Greenberger ⁵, and Yijen L Wu^2
1Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ²Developmental Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, ³Biomedical Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, ⁴Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, ⁵Radiation Oncology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States

A novel motion-and-time resolved 4D oxy-wavelet MRI (4D-fMRI acquired with oscillating hypoxia challenges, analyzed by a continuous wavelet transform mimicking experimental oscillations) can acquire fetal MRI with high spatiotemporal resolution and can probe mitochondrial functions in live fetal brains. 4D oxy-wavelet MRI outcomes were validated with Oroboros mitochondrial function assays and correlated with mitochondrial targeting drug JP4-039 in a fetal irradiation injury mouse model.  The mouse fetuses showed poor 4D oxy-wavelet outcomes had poor mitochondrial functions and vice versa.  Furthermore, an automated time-frequency analysis scheme can correctly differentiate normal vs irradiated fetuses, paving the way for future AI-based automatic diagnosis.  

Jessie Mosso^1,2,3, Mickaël Rey^1,2, Dunja Simicic^1,2,3, Katarzyna Pierzchala^1,2,3, Ileana Ozana Jelescu⁴, and Cristina Cudalbu^1,2
1CIBM Center for Biomedical Imaging, Lausanne, Switzerland, ²Animal Imaging and Technology (AIT), EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland, ³LIFMET, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland, ⁴Service de radiodiagnostic et radiologie interventionnelle, Lausanne University Hospital CHUV, Lausanne, Switzerland

Children affected by hepatic encephalopathy (HE) suffer from irreversible cognitive damage, and thus exploring the developing brain during HE is of crucial interest. Histology in an adult rat model of HE suggested alterations in the cerebellar microstructure, but there is a need for in vivo probes of these changes. Combining diffusion MRS and diffusion MRI, we measured increased metabolites’ diffusivities, as well as an increased intra-neurite/axon water diffusivity in white and gray matter in the cerebellum of a young rat model of HE compared to control rats, suggesting an alteration of cell density and/or of neurite network complexity.

Yongquan Ye¹, Renkuan Zhai², and Hongxia Lei^2
1UIH America, Inc., Houston, TX, United States, ²Wuhan United Imaging Life Science Instrument Co., Ltd., Wuhan, China

In this work, we report the initial experience of a state-of-the-art single-scan, high-resolution multi-parametric method, i.e. MULTIPLEX, on a 9.4T animal system. Ultra-high-resolution multi-parametric images with 0.12mm isotropic voxels were achieved on ex-vivo rat brain with atlas level anatomical details, while high resolution (0.1x0.1x0.4mm³) results with sufficient SNR were achieved with in-vivo rat brain.

Galina Pavlovskaya¹, Onur Belek², Thomas Meersmann¹, Christopher Philp¹, Jane McLaren², David A Walsh², and Brigitte E Scammell^2
1SPMIC/Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom, ²Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom

We reveal intriguing experimental results providing the evidence that triple quantum filtered sodium relaxation time associated with histologically confirmed sodium bound to glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in the cartilage matrix could be a marker for earlier osteoarthritis. The change appears only when cartilage specimens are subjected to mechanical load corresponding to 200N force applied normal to the cartilage surface. Hence, this mechanically induced change can potentially serve as a health score of cartilage tissues in health and disease in vivo.

Karolina Garczyńska^1,2, Julia Hahndorf¹, Nicola Stolzenburg¹, Matthias Taupitz¹, Jürgen Braun³, Ingolf Sack¹, Jörg Schnorr¹, and Jing Guo^1
1Department of Radiology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany, ²Department of Veterinary Pathology, Free University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany, ³Institute of Medical Informatics, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Using in vivo tomoelastography and multiparametric MRI (mp-MRI) we investigated kidneys of 10 rats with adenine-induced chronic kidney disease (CKD) and 8 healthy controls. In CKD rats, increased kidney volume, shear wave speed (SWS, related to stiffness) and wave penetration rate (related to inverse viscosity) were observed, while water diffusivity was reduced. These imaging findings were correlated with histopathologically quantified renal fibrosis. Our results suggested that collagen accumulation during CKD progression transforms soft-compliant renal tissue into a more rigid-solid state with reduced water mobility and shows that tomoelastography is a promising tool for non-invasive monitoring of disease progression.

Andrea Galisova¹, Jiri Zahradnik¹, Hyla Allouche-Arnon ¹, Gideon Schreiber¹, and Amnon Bar-Shir^1
1Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are cell derived nanoformulations that allow to use genetic tools to engineer their features. Here, we show an MR imaging platform, which is based on genetically engineered magnetically labeled EVs, for mapping the binding of SARS-CoV-2 mimetics to the ACE2 receptor in vivo. The proposed imaging platform can help to better understand the mechanism and development of SARS-CoV-2 infection and in the delivery of proposed therapeutics. The presented principles can be further extended to study other viruses and viral mutations by engineering a tailored peptide on the EVs surface and thus study viral-induced pathologies by MRI.