Li Chenyang, Sun Zhe, Zhang Jiangyang, Ge Yulin
Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
Vilcek Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
NMR Biomed. 2025 Oct;38(10):e70144. doi: 10.1002/nbm.70144.
The choroid plexus (ChP) is critical to the glymphatic system of the human brain through its primary function as the source of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) production, which plays an important role in brain waste clearance. Developing noninvasive imaging techniques to assess ChP is crucial for studying its function and age-related neurofluid dynamics. In this study, we developed a relaxation-selective intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) technique to assess tissue and fluid compartments in the ChP of 83 middle-aged to elderly participants (age: 61.5 ± 17.1 years) and 15 young controls (age: 30.7 ± 2.9 years). Using a 3-T MRI scanner, we implemented T1- and T2-selective IVIM approaches, including Fluid-Attenuated Inversion Recovery IVIM (FLAIR-IVIM), LongTE-IVIM, and Vascular Space Occupancy-LongTE-IVIM (VASO-LongTE-IVIM), to measure diffusivity and volume fractions of fluid compartments in ChP. Our results showed that FLAIR-IVIM identified an additional interstitial fluid (ISF) compartment with free-water-like diffusivity in ChP. We then evaluated the aging effects on microvascular perfusion and ISF in ChP. Compared to younger adults, older adults exhibited increased ChP volume, reduced perfusion, decreased ISF volume fraction, and lower tissue diffusivity. Relaxation-selective IVIM may offer enhanced specificity for characterizing age-related changes in ChP structure and fluid dynamics.
脉络丛（ChP）对人类大脑的类淋巴系统至关重要，其主要功能是产生脑脊液（CSF），这在脑废物清除中起着重要作用。开发用于评估脉络丛的非侵入性成像技术对于研究其功能和与年龄相关的神经流体动力学至关重要。在本研究中，我们开发了一种弛豫选择性体素内不相干运动（IVIM）技术，以评估83名中年至老年参与者（年龄：61.5±17.1岁）和15名年轻对照者（年龄：30.7±2.9岁）脉络丛中的组织和液体成分。使用3-T MRI扫描仪，我们实施了T1和T2选择性IVIM方法，包括液体衰减反转恢复IVIM（FLAIR-IVIM）、LongTE-IVIM和血管空间占据-LongTE-IVIM（VASO-LongTE-IVIM），以测量脉络丛中液体成分的扩散率和体积分数。我们的结果表明，FLAIR-IVIM在脉络丛中识别出一个额外的具有自由水样扩散率的间质液（ISF）成分。然后，我们评估了衰老对脉络丛微血管灌注和ISF的影响。与年轻人相比，老年人的脉络丛体积增加、灌注减少、ISF体积分数降低且组织扩散率降低。弛豫选择性IVIM可能为表征脉络丛结构和流体动力学的年龄相关变化提供更高的特异性。
