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Updated: Aug 22, 2025
Advanced Diffusion Imaging in The Hippocampus of Rats with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
Published on: August 14, 2019
Application of diffusion tensor imaging and functional alterations in evaluating brain alterations related to
Qinglong Li1, Mingxing Han1, Xunrong Luo2
1Department of Radiology, Yantai Affiliated Hospital of Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China; School of Medical Imaging, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China.
Objectives:
To assess the alterations in resting-state functions and neural structures in the brain of a heatstroke rat model and explore the underlying relationship.
Methods:
In total, 17 male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into a control group (CTRL, n = 7) and a heatstroke group (HS, n = 10). All rats underwent 7.0 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). T2-weighted imaging, resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI), and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) were obtained. On day 25, the surviving HS group rats (the follow-up group, FU, n = 7) were scanned again.
Results:
Heatstroke resulted in functional alterations and structural damage in the cerebellar molecular layer (CML), right perirhinal area (PA), pretectal region (PR), right dentate gyrus, and external cortex of the inferior colliculus (ECIC). Further functional changes occur in the right temporal associative cortex (TAC), left retrosplenial cortex (RC), and CML during convalescence. The fractional anisotropy values were significantly positively correlated with the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) (HS-CML: r = 0.746, p = 0.034; right PR: r = 0.648, p = 0.049; FU-right PA: r = 0.817, p = 0.025)/regional homogeneity (ReHo) ratio (HS-CML: r = 0.833, p = 0.008; ECIC: r = 0.678, p = 0.045) and negatively correlated with the ALFF (FU-left RC: r = -0.818, p = 0.024; right TAC: r = -0.813, p = 0.049).
Conclusion:
DTI and rs-fMRI allow meticulous monitoring of the progression of neurological and functional alterations in the brain after heatstroke.
