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Intracranial pressure changes during mouse development
Mehran Moazen1, Ali Alazmani2, Katherine Rafferty3
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College London, Torrington Place, London WC1E 7JE, UK.
Insights
Intracranial pressure (ICP) increases significantly during early mouse development, correlating with cranial bone growth. This suggests ICP may influence bone formation at skull sutures in young mammals.
Area of Science:
- Developmental biology
- Biomechanics
- Craniofacial development
Background:
- During early postnatal development, the growing brain and cerebrospinal fluid generate intracranial pressure (ICP).
- This pressure loads calvarial bones, potentially influencing bone formation at sutures, especially during rapid brain growth after birth.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify intracranial pressure (ICP) changes throughout mouse postnatal development.
- To investigate the relationship between ICP dynamics and cranial growth patterns.
Main Methods:
- Developed and calibrated a custom pressure monitoring system for ICP measurement.
- Measured ICP in 73 wild-type mice across five postnatal age points (P3, P10, P20, P31, P70).
- Utilized micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) to assess cranial volume and skull length in age-matched samples.
Main Results:
- ICP increased from 1.33±0.87 mmHg at P3 to 3.60±1.08 mmHg at P20, then plateaued around 4 mmHg in older mice.
- Statistically significant differences in ICP were observed between P3 vs. P20 and P10 vs. P20.
- Intracranial volume and skull length showed a similar growth pattern, increasing up to P20 before plateauing.
Conclusions:
- The observed correlation between rising ICP and cranial growth suggests ICP may be a contributing factor to calvarial bone formation at sutures during early development.
- These findings provide valuable data for computational modeling of skull growth and validation.
Abstract:
During early stages of postnatal development, pressure from the growing brain as well as cerebrospinal fluid, i.e. intracranial pressure (ICP), load the calvarial bones. It is likely that such loading contributes to the peripheral bone formation at the sutural edges of calvarial bones, especially shortly after birth when the brain is growing rapidly. The aim of this study was to quantify ICP during mouse development. A custom pressure monitoring system was developed and calibrated. It was then used to measure ICP in a total of seventy three wild type mice at postnatal (P) day 3, 10, 20, 31 and 70. Retrospectively, the sample in each age group with the closest ICP to the average value was scanned using micro-computed tomography to estimate cranial growth. ICP increased from 1.33±0.87mmHg at P3 to 1.92±0.78mmHg at P10 and 3.60±1.08mmHg at P20. In older animals, ICP plateaued at about 4mmHg. There were statistically significant differences between the ICP at the P3 vs. P20, and P10 vs. P20. In the samples that were scanned, intracranial volume and skull length followed a similar pattern of increase up to P20 and then plateaued at older ages. These data are consistent with the possibility of ICP being a contributing factor to bone formation at the sutures during early stages of development. The data can be further used for development and validation of computational models of skull growth.
