Bens Nicole, Chang Arnold, Ortiz Richard, Leaston Joshua, Kulkarni Praveen, Hightower Rosemarie, Prom Sophia, O'Hare Nicholas, Ebong Eno, Ferris Craig F
Center for Translational Neuroimaging, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois Univ, DeKalb, IL, 60112, USA.
Neurosci Bull. 2025 Jun 29. doi: 10.1007/s12264-025-01438-9.
Mild repetitive head injury is a serious health problem with long-term negative consequences. Changes in brain neurobiology were assessed with MRI in a model of head injury designed to reflect the human experience. Rats were maintained on a reverse light-dark cycle and head impacted daily at 24 h intervals over three days while fully awake under red light illumination. There was no neuroradiological evidence of brain damage. Rats were imaged for changes in blood brain barrier permeability, edema and gray matter microarchitecture, and resting state functional connectivity. Data were registered to a 3D MRI rat atlas with 173 segmented brain areas providing site-specific information on each imaging modality. Changes in BBB permeability were minimal and localized to the hippocampus and cerebellum. There was evidence of cytotoxic edema in the basal ganglia, thalamus, and cerebellum. There was a global decrease in connectivity and an increase in gliosis in the thalamus, cerebellum, and hippocampus. This study shows a sequelae of neuropathology caused by mild repetitive head injury that is commonly observed in clinical practice using MRI in patients. As such, it may serve as a model for testing the efficacy of new therapeutics using any or all of the measures as biomarkers to assess drug efficacy.
轻度重复性头部损伤是一个严重的健康问题，会产生长期的负面后果。在一个旨在反映人类实际情况的头部损伤模型中，利用磁共振成像（MRI）评估了脑神经生物学的变化。大鼠维持反向明暗周期，在三天内每隔24小时在红光照明下完全清醒状态下进行一次头部撞击。没有脑损伤的神经放射学证据。对大鼠进行成像，以观察血脑屏障通透性、水肿和灰质微结构以及静息态功能连接的变化。数据被注册到一个具有173个分割脑区的三维MRI大鼠图谱中，该图谱提供了每种成像方式的位点特异性信息。血脑屏障通透性的变化很小，且局限于海马体和小脑。在基底神经节、丘脑和小脑中存在细胞毒性水肿的证据。丘脑、小脑和海马体中存在连接性整体下降和胶质增生增加的情况。这项研究显示了轻度重复性头部损伤导致的神经病理学后遗症，这在临床上对患者使用MRI时很常见。因此，它可以作为一个模型，使用任何或所有这些测量方法作为生物标志物来测试新疗法的疗效，以评估药物疗效。
