A simple and inexpensive system for controlling body temperature in small animal experiments using MRI and the effect of body temperature on the hepatic kinetics of Gd-EOB-DTPA.

The purpose of this study was to develop a simple and inexpensive system for controlling body temperature in small animal experiments using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and to investigate the effect of body temperature on the kinetic behavior of gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA) in the liver. In our temperature-control system, body temperature was controlled using a feedback-regulated heated or cooled air flow generated by two Futon dryers. The switches of the two Futon dryers were controlled using a digital temperature controller, in which the rectal temperature of a mouse measured by an optical fiber thermometer was used as the input. In experimental studies, male ICR mice aged 8weeks old were used and allocated into 5 groups (39-, 36-, 33-, 30-, and 27-degree groups, n=10), in which the body temperature was maintained at 39 °C, 36 °C, 33 °C, 30 °C, and 27 °C, respectively, using our system. The dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) data were acquired with an MRI system for animal experiments equipped with a 1.5-Tesla permanent magnet, for approximately 43min, after the injection of Gd-EOB-DTPA into the tail vein. After correction of the image shift due to the temperature-dependent drift of the Larmor frequency using the gradient-based image registration method with robust estimation of displacement parameters, the kinetic behavior of Gd-EOB-DTPA was analyzed using an empirical mathematical model. With the use of this approach, the upper limit of the relative enhancement (A), the rates of contrast uptake (α) and washout (β), the parameter related to the slope of early uptake (q), the area under the curve (AUC), the maximum relative enhancement (REmax), the time to REmax (Tmax), and the elimination half-life of the contrast agent (T1/2) were calculated. The body temperature of mice could be controlled well by use of our system. Although there were no significant differences in α, AUC, and q among groups, there were significant differences in A, REmax, β, Tmax, and T1/2, indicating that body temperature significantly affects the kinetic behavior of Gd-EOB-DTPA in the liver. In conclusion, our system will be useful for controlling body temperature in small animal experiments using MRI. Because body temperature significantly affects the kinetic behavior of Gd-EOB-DTPA in the liver, the control of body temperature is essential and should be carefully considered when performing DCE-MRI studies in small animal experiments.