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MICEST: a potential tool for non-invasive detection of molecular changes in Alzheimer's disease

Mohammad Haris1, Anup Singh, Kejia Cai

  • 1CMROI, Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA. mharis@mail.med.upenn.edu

Journal of Neuroscience Methods
|October 9, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Myo-inositol (mIns), a marker of glial cell proliferation, increases in early Alzheimer's disease (AD). The MICEST MRI technique effectively maps elevated mIns in AD mouse models, aiding early AD detection.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Biochemistry
  • Medical Imaging

Background:

  • Myo-inositol (mIns) is a marker for glial cell proliferation.
  • Elevated mIns levels are observed in early Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology.
  • mIns exhibits a concentration-dependent chemical-exchange-saturation-transfer (CEST) effect (MICEST).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To map brain mIns concentration and glial cell proliferation at high spatial resolution using endogenous MICEST.
  • To investigate the utility of MICEST in detecting early AD pathology.

Main Methods:

  • High-resolution mapping of mIns using MICEST technique.
  • Utilized APP-PS1 transgenic mouse model of AD and age-matched wild-type (WT) controls.
  • Correlated MICEST contrast with proton spectroscopy and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) immunostaining.

Main Results:

  • APP-PS1 mice exhibited approximately 50% higher MICEST contrast compared to WT controls.
  • Increased mIns concentration was confirmed in APP-PS1 mice via proton spectroscopy.
  • GFAP immunostaining showed more extensive glial cell proliferation in APP-PS1 mice, correlating with higher mIns levels.

Conclusions:

  • The MICEST technique allows for high-resolution mapping of endogenous mIns.
  • Elevated mIns and glial proliferation are detectable in an AD mouse model using MICEST.
  • MICEST shows significant potential for the early detection of AD pathology.

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