Perfluoro-15-crown-5-ether labelled macrophages in adoptive transfer experimental allergic encephalomyelitis

In this serial in vivo study, macrophages labelled with perfluoro-15-crown-5-ether (15C5) were monitored in rats after inducing adoptive transfer experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (AT-EAE). AT-EAE is an animal model of multiple sclerosis and is characterized by inflammatory infiltrates in the central nervous system (CNS) and breakdown of the blood-brain-barrier. A particular feature of AT-EAE are macrophage infiltrates. Purpose of this study was to monitor the invasive and evasive phase of the macrophages in AT-EAE by using 3-dimensional 19F magnetic resonance imaging (3D 19F-MRI). In the early stage of the disease, a much stronger 19F-signal intensity was observed in AT-EAE-rats than in healthy control rats in the tissue adjacent to CNS regions severely affected by inflammatory infiltrates, and thereafter the 19F-signal intensity was decreasing over the time. However, no 19F-signal could be observed in the CNS itself neither in AT-EAE-rats nor in control rats. According to these findings it is assumed that we monitored the evasion of the macrophages from the region of inflammation.