Novel applications of magnetic resonance imaging to image tissue inflammation after stroke

Experimental studies suggest that stroke-induced brain damage progresses during subacute stages. Cerebral ischemic injury is associated with the induction of a series of inflammatory events, including the infiltration of circulating immune cells and activation of resident cells. Local brain inflammation is spatiotemporally related to the occurrence of delayed apoptotic cell death. Therefore, ischemia-associated inflammation may not only play a major role in the pathogenesis of neurodegeneration associated with stroke, but may also mediate beneficial effects such as lesion demarcation, wound healing, and tissue regeneration especially via secretion of nerve growth factors. In this context, noninvasive imaging of inflammation associated with ischemic stroke lesions could have a predictive value and may be helpful for the development of cytoprotective drugs.