Quantitative Magnetization Transfer Imaging as a Biomarker for Effects of Systemic Inflammation on the Brain.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Systemic inflammation impairs brain function and is increasingly implicated in the etiology of common mental illnesses, particularly depression and Alzheimer's disease. Immunotherapies selectively targeting proinflammatory cytokines demonstrate efficacy in a subset of patients with depression. However, efforts to identify patients most vulnerable to the central effects of inflammation are hindered by insensitivity of conventional structural magnetic resonance imaging.

Methods

We used quantitative magnetization transfer (qMT) imaging, a magnetic resonance imaging technique that enables quantification of changes in brain macromolecular density, together with experimentally induced inflammation to investigate effects of systemic inflammatory challenge on human brain

SUBMITTER: Harrison NA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4503794 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature