Optical imaging to map blood-brain barrier leakage.

ABSTRACT: Vascular leakage in the brain is a major complication associated with brain injuries and certain pathological conditions due to disruption of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). We have developed an optical imaging method, based on excitation and emission spectra of Evans Blue dye, that is >1000-fold more sensitive than conventional ultraviolet spectrophotometry. We used a rat thromboembolic stroke model to validate the usefulness of our method for vascular leakage. Optical imaging data show that vascular leakage varies in different areas of the post-stroke brain and that administering tissue plasminogen activator causes further leakage. The new method is quantitative, simple to use, requires no tissue processing, and can map the degree of vascular leakage in different brain locations. The high

SUBMITTER: Jaffer H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3814906 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature