In vivo assessment of experimental neonatal excitotoxic brain lesion with USPIO-enhanced MR imaging.

Abstract

To assess the feasibility of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) enhanced with ultrasmall superparamagnetic particles of iron oxide (USPIO) for assessing excitotoxic brain lesions in an experimental model of neonatal periventricular white matter (PWM) lesions. Brain lesions were induced by intracerebral injection of ibotenate in 14 newborn rats. Pre- and post-USPIO T2-weighted MRI was performed in seven of them (group A) and in five control newborns (group C). In seven newborns with induced cerebral lesions, USPIO-enhanced MRI was not performed (group B). We compared the signal intensity of the lesion to the contralateral unaffected brain (lesion-to-brain contrast, LBC) and the lesion signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) before and after USPIO injection. MR imaging was correlated with histology. USPIO injection significantly (P<0.05) decreased LBC and SNR of brain lesion but induced no changes in normal controls. The densities of macrophages and iron-laden cells were higher on the lesion side than on the contralateral side (P<0.05). Neither lesion size nor the surrounding macrophage infiltrate was significantly different between groups A and B. Post-USPIO T2-weighted MRI demonstrated negative enhancement of neonatal excitotoxic brain lesion. USPIO injection does not appear to exacerbate brain lesions.