Unger E, Alexander A, Fritz T, Rosenberg N, Dreisbach J
Department of Radiology, University of Arizona, Tucson 85724.
Radiology. 1994 Nov;193(2):473-6. doi: 10.1148/radiology.193.2.7972765.
To explain the hypointensity in the basal ganglia on T2-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images of brains of toluene abusers.
Eight patients with histories of toluene abuse underwent MR imaging. A bilayered model of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC; 100 mmol/L concentration) and varying concentrations of toluene was formed. The DPPC control and toluene-mixed bilayers underwent MR imaging. T1 and T2 were measured as a function of toluene and lipid concentrations.
T2-weighted images of patients who had abused toluene showed marked hypointensity in the thalami and moderate hypointensity in the basal ganglia. Measurements of the DPPC-toluene phantom indicated that toluene-tainted lipid bilayers dramatically shortened T2 and had little effect on T1. By comparison, DPPC itself had little discernible effect on either T1 or T2.
This model suggests that partitioning of toluene into the lipid membranes of cells in cerebral tissue may be responsible for the hypointensity of basal ganglia noted on T2-weighted MR images of brains of toluene abusers.
解释甲苯滥用者脑部T2加权磁共振（MR）图像中基底节区的低信号。
对8名有甲苯滥用史的患者进行MR成像。构建了一个由二棕榈酰磷脂酰胆碱（DPPC；浓度为100 mmol/L）和不同浓度甲苯组成的双层模型。对DPPC对照组和甲苯混合双层进行MR成像。测量了T1和T2随甲苯和脂质浓度的变化情况。
甲苯滥用患者的T2加权图像显示丘脑有明显低信号，基底节区有中度低信号。DPPC - 甲苯模型的测量结果表明，受甲苯污染的脂质双层显著缩短了T2，而对T1影响很小。相比之下，DPPC本身对T1或T2几乎没有明显影响。
该模型表明，甲苯在脑组织细胞脂质膜中的分配可能是甲苯滥用者脑部T2加权MR图像中基底节区低信号的原因。
