Longitudinal Motor and Behavioral Assessment of Blood-Brain Barrier Opening with Transcranial Focused Ultrasound.

ABSTRACT: Focused ultrasound (FUS), in combination with microbubbles, has been found to open the blood-brain barrier (BBB) non-invasively. When this technique is used for drug delivery, repeated drug administration and BBB opening are likely required. Therefore, it is worth investigating the long-term effects of FUS-induced BBB opening. In this study, we focused on the assessment of potential behavior changes in mice that could be attributed to repeated BBB opening for up to 6 months. The striatum of animals was unilaterally sonicated either monthly or biweekly throughout the monitoring period. Behavioral assessments were conducted using open-field and rotarod performance tests. Upon completion of each sonication, mice underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to confirm and assess the volume of th

SUBMITTER: Olumolade OO 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5381156 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature