Systemic inflammation alters brain blood flow and R2*: An in-vivo 9.4T MRI animal study

Abstract

Systemic inflammation is linked to a range of neurological diseases. Reductions in cerebral blood flow (CBF) and the presence of brain hypoxia have been detected in animal models of inflammation and in multiple sclerosis, a disease with significant inflammation. Reduced CBF combined with hypoxia could exacerbate damage in neuroinflammatory conditions. To study this link, we used in-vivo 9.4T MRI to quantify CBF and R2*, a marker of deoxyhemoglobin, following systemic inflammation induced by bacterial lipopolysaccharide. We found reduced CBF and increased R2* in 4 regions, including the cortex and hippocampus—indicating that inflammation is accompanied by hypoxia and reduced CBF.