Neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging can detect presymptomatic axonal degeneration in the spinal cord of ALS mice.

Neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging can detect presymptomatic axonal degeneration in the spinal cord of ALS mice.
Funct Neurol. 2018 Jul/Sept;33(3):155-163
Authors: Gatto RG, Mustafi SM, Amin MY, Mareci TH, Wu YC, Magin RL
Abstract
Neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI), a MRI multi-shell diffusion technique, has offered new insights for the study of microstructural changes in neurodegenerative diseases. Mainly, the present study aimed to determine the connection between NODDI-derived parameters and changes in white matter (WM) abnormalities at early stages of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Spinal cords from ALS mice (G93A-SOD1 mice) were scanned in a Bruker Avance III HD 17.6T magnet. Fluorescent axonal-tagged mice (YFP, G93A-SOD1 mice) were used for quantitative histological analysis. NODDI showed a decrease in intra-cellular volume fraction (-24%) and increases in orientation dispersion index (+35%) and isotropic volume fraction (+33%). In addition, histoathological results demonstrated a reductions in axonal area (-11%) and myelin content (-29%). A histological decrease in WM intra-axonal space (-71%) and an increase in the extra-axonal compartment (+22%) were also detected. Our studies demonstrate that NODDI may be a suitable technique for detecting presymptomatic spinal cord WM microstructural degeneration in ALS.
PMID: 30457969 [PubMed - in process]

Source: Functional Neurology - November 22, 2018 Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research