Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI Reveals Unique Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability Characteristics in the Hippocampus in the Normal Brain

Abstract

We report a prospective dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging analysis of region-specific blood-brain barrier permeability in 5 healthy subjects. By means of standardized postprocessing and ROI sampling methods, the hippocampi revealed significantly elevated area under the dynamic contrast-enhanced curve and significantly increased blood-brain barrier permeability metrics (volume transfer constant and volume in the extravascular extracellular space) from model-based quantitation. These findings suggest unique blood-brain barrier permeability characteristics in the hippocampus, which are concordant with previous animal studies, potentially laying the groundwork for future studies assessing patient populations in which hippocampal pathology plays a role. ABBREVIATIONS:BBBP ϭ blood-brain barrier permeability; DCE ϭ dynamic contrast-enhanced; K trans ϭ volume transfer constant; SLE ϭ systemic lupus erythematosus; VE ϭ volume in the extravascular extracellular space Indicates open access to non-subscribers at www.ajnr.org http://dx.

Regional Differences in Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability in Cognitively Normal Elderly Subjects: A Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI-Based Study

“…Interestingly, although the K trans values of the manually drawn hippocampus were higher than those of other regions generated using the same method, K trans values of the automatically segmented hippocampus did not differ from those of other regions. The latter result contradicted a previous finding that showed a significantly larger area under the time-intensity curve in the hippocampus than in the other regions [ 30 ]. The larger sample size of the present study (35 vs. 6 participants) may account for this discrepancy.…”

“…Of the three different models, Cramer and Larsson [ 25 ] carefully reported that the Patlak model yielded a normal value of 1 × 10 −3 min −1 , which is close to the presently reported value. In contrast, van de Haar et al [ 6 ], Ivanidze et al [ 30 ], Chi et al [ 29 ], and Kim et al [ 28 ] reported very low values. Furthermore, these previously reported values, even values reported by a single research group, varied within the order of 10 to 1000 [ 29 30 ]; in other words, reported values were up to 1000 times higher or lower [ 27 28 ].…”

“…The K trans values reported in previous studies are provided in Table 4 . The range of previously reported BBB permeability values varied widely from 2.3 × 10 −6 min −1 to 2.19 × 10 −3 min −1 when converted for measurement unit adjustment [ 3 6 25 26 27 28 29 30 ]. Overall, the K trans values of various brain regions in the present study were similar to or slightly below the values previously reported by Cramer and Larsson [ 25 ], Montagne et al [ 3 ], and Yoo et al [ 27 ].…”

“…First, different models have been used to obtain K trans values associated with subtle BBB leakage, including the Patlak model and the extended Tofts model [ 19 ]. Compared to studies that used the Patlak model [ 3 25 ], those that used the extended Tofts model generated significantly smaller K trans values, such as the studies conducted by Chi et al [ 29 ] and Ivanidze et al [ 30 ]. Although the extended Tofts model is favored in brain tumor imaging, its use to assess neurodegenerative disease and/or small vessel disease has not been justified to date [ 19 ].…”

Neuroimaging of inflammation in alcohol use disorder: a review

“…Investigators have used this method to identify alcohol-induced protein tyrosine kinase signaling as a tracer for BBB degradation, which is a result of neuroinflammation from alcohol injury [40]. A dynamic contrast-enhanced curve MRI study also reported significantly elevated BBB permeability in the hippocampus of social drinkers [116]. More studies are necessary to elucidate the role of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRIs in analyzing neuroinflammation in AUD.…”