Wang Rui, Xu Shuxian, Jia Fenglin, Liao Yi, Li Jiayi, Liu Jing, Zhao Fengyan, Qu Haibo
Department of Radiology, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 20, 3rd Section, South Renmin Road, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, People's Republic of China.
Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children (Sichuan University), Ministry of Education, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 20, 3rd Section, South Renmin Road, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, People's Republic of China.
Exp Brain Res. 2024 Dec 2;243(1):11. doi: 10.1007/s00221-024-06952-2.
Myelination is a crucial process in the nervous system. This study aimed to evaluate the progression of myelin sheath development in different brain regions of neonatal rats at distinct developmental stages using Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (CEST) 7-T MRI. Male SD rats of different ages (3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 1 month, 2 months) were selected for the study. Advanced in vivo MRI experiments were conducted using a 7-T MRI scanner. Custom MatLab scripts were employed to generate MR images and process the data. Myelin staining was used to assess myelin distribution in various brain regions. Statistical analysis was performed using repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and Spearman's rank correlation. The progression of myelination was significantly different in different brain regions (F(5, 30) = 3.34, P < 0.05), with the corpus callosum showing an accelerated rate of myelination. Within the first month alone, there was an increase of 46.1% in myelination (t(35) = 2.29, P < 0.05). The hypothalamus and internal capsule exhibited a more gradual yet consistent increase in myelination over the two-month period, with increases of 47.1% (t(35) = 2.27, P < 0.05) and 39.8% (t(35) = 2.59, P < 0.05), respectively. A substantial positive correlation was found between the MRI-based and histological measurements of myelination (r = 0.31, P < 0.05). This study demonstrates the potential of CEST 7-T MRI as a non-invasive tool for assessing myelination progression and provides insights into the differential myelination rates across various brain regions during early development.
髓鞘形成是神经系统中的一个关键过程。本研究旨在使用化学交换饱和转移（CEST）7-T磁共振成像（MRI）评估新生大鼠在不同发育阶段不同脑区髓鞘形成的进展情况。选取不同年龄（3天、1周、2周、3周、1个月、2个月）的雄性SD大鼠进行研究。使用7-T MRI扫描仪进行先进的体内MRI实验。采用定制的MatLab脚本生成MR图像并处理数据。使用髓鞘染色评估不同脑区的髓鞘分布。采用重复测量多变量方差分析（MANOVA）和Spearman等级相关性进行统计分析。不同脑区的髓鞘形成进展存在显著差异（F(5, 30) = 3.34，P < 0.05），胼胝体的髓鞘形成速率加快。仅在第一个月内，髓鞘形成增加了46.1%（t(35) = 2.29，P < 0.05）。下丘脑和内囊在两个月的时间里髓鞘形成呈现出更为渐进但持续的增加，分别增加了47.1%（t(35) = 2.27，P < 0.05）和39.8%（t(35) = 2.59，P < 0.05）。基于MRI的髓鞘形成测量与组织学测量之间发现了显著的正相关（r = 0.31，P < 0.05）。本研究证明了CEST 7-T MRI作为评估髓鞘形成进展的非侵入性工具的潜力，并为早期发育过程中不同脑区的髓鞘形成差异速率提供了见解。
