Faculty Collaboration Database

Diffusion MRI of the developing cerebral cortical gray matter can be used to detect abnormalities in tissue microstructure associated with fetal ethanol exposure. Neuroimage 2013 Dec;83:1081-7

Date

08/08/2013

Pubmed ID

23921100

Pubmed Central ID

PMC3815979

DOI

10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.07.068

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-84886412536   21 Citations

Abstract

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) comprise a wide range of neurological deficits that result from fetal exposure to ethanol (EtOH), and are the leading cause of environmentally related birth defects and mental retardation in the western world. One aspect of diagnostic and therapeutic intervention strategies that could substantially improve our ability to combat this significant problem would be to facilitate earlier detection of the disorders within individuals. Light microscopy-based investigations performed by several laboratories have previously shown that morphological development of neurons within the early-developing cerebral cortex is abnormal within the brains of animals exposed to EtOH during fetal development. We and others have recently demonstrated that diffusion MRI can be of utility for detecting abnormal cellular morphological development in the developing cerebral cortex. We therefore assessed whether diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) could be used to distinguish the developing cerebral cortices of ex vivo rat pup brains born from dams treated with EtOH (EtOH; 4.5 g/kg, 25%) or calorie-matched quantities of maltose/dextrin (M/D) throughout gestation. Water diffusion and tissue microstructure were investigated using DTI (fractional anisotropy, FA) and histology (anisotropy index, AI), respectively. Both FA and AI decreased with age, and were higher in the EtOH than the M/D group at postnatal ages (P)0, P3, and P6. Additionally, there was a significant correlation between FA and AI measurements. These findings provide evidence that disruptions in cerebral cortical development induced by EtOH exposure can be revealed by water diffusion anisotropy patterns, and that these disruptions are directly related to cerebral cortical differentiation.

Author List

Leigland LA, Budde MD, Cornea A, Kroenke CD

Author

Matthew Budde PhD Associate Professor in the Neurosurgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Animals
Anisotropy
Cerebral Cortex
Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Disease Models, Animal
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Rats
Rats, Long-Evans