Angiopoietin-1 Reduces Blood-Spinal Cord Barrier Permeability and Lesion Volume in the Acute Phase of Spinal Cord Injury: MRI and Histological Studies

Chirag B. Patel¹, Ponnada A. Narayana¹

We hypothesized that attenuation of blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB) compromise with angiopoietin-1 (Ang1) acutely after spinal cord injury (SCI) would reduce the severity of secondary pathologies (e.g., BSCB permeability and SCI lesion volume) in the acute phase of injury. The hypothesis was tested quantitatively in an experimental rat model of thoracic level 7 contusion SCI using the following methodologies: dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)-MRI, high resolution anatomical MRI, and immunofluorescence histology. A significant reduction in BSCB permeability and lesion volume during the acute phase of injury was observed as a result of Ang1 treatment. Histology validated DCE-MRI findings.