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Mapping astrogliosis in the individual human brain using multidimensional MRI
Dan Benjamini1,2,3, David S Priemer4,5,6, Daniel P Perl4,5
1Section on Quantitative Imaging and Tissue Sciences, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20891, USA.
Brain : a Journal of Neurology
|August 11, 2022
Summary
New multidimensional MRI techniques can now detect and map astrogliosis, a key indicator in brain injury and disease. This breakthrough offers a non-invasive imaging method for assessing reactive astrocytes in the central nervous system.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Biomarkers
- Machine Learning
Background:
- Astrogliosis is crucial in central nervous system diseases but lacks non-invasive assessment methods.
- Current imaging techniques cannot reliably detect or map astrogliosis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a non-invasive MRI-based method for detecting and mapping astrogliosis.
- To correlate multidimensional MRI findings with histopathology of astrogliosis.
Main Methods:
- Utilized multidimensional MRI (probing T1, T2 relaxation and diffusion) on ex vivo human brain tissue.
- Applied machine learning for anomaly detection to identify astrogliosis signatures.
- Correlated MRI data with glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) immunohistochemistry.
Main Results:
- Multidimensional MRI robustly detected microstructural and chemical changes associated with astrogliosis.
- A novel MRI-based astrogliosis biomarker map showed strong correlation with GFAP deposition (r up to 0.856).
- Single-parameter MRI (T1, T2, or diffusion) could not distinguish astrogliosis.
Conclusions:
- Multidimensional MRI can identify and map astrogliosis with high sensitivity and specificity.
- This technique provides a potential non-invasive imaging biomarker for astrogliosis in neurological conditions.
- Further in vivo validation could revolutionize neuroimaging of brain injury, disease, and aging.
