In vivo MR Vessel Size Imaging of Brain Vascular Plasticity After Experimental Spinal Cord Injury

Abstract

In vivo magnetic resonance vessel size imaging at 7 T high field was used to explore the changes in cerebral vascular plasticity after spinal cord hemisection injury in rats. Region of interest (ROI) analysis showed that four weeks after injury, mean vessel diameter (mVD), microvascular density (Density) and vessel size index (VSI) values were significantly increased in the contralateral side compared with the ipsilateral pyramid of the injury site, suggesting angiogenesis or vascular activation in the white matter region of the contralateral corticospinal tract (CST). Immunofluorescence results showed that the intensity of staining for platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule 1 (CD31) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) also increased significantly in the contralateral pyramid four weeks after injury. These results suggested that magnetic resonance vessel size imaging could provide valuable information on neovascularization in brain after spinal cord injury and may be a novel tool to diagnose brain vascular pathologies in spinal cord injury patients.

Keywords

• brain vascular plasticity
• vessel size imaging
• rats
• spinal cord injury
• high field magnetic resonance imaging