Adrienne E. Campbell1, 2, Anthony N. Price3, Stephan Ellmerich4, Paul Simons4, Raya Al-Shawi4, Rupinder Ghatrora1, Tammy L. Kalber1, Philip N. Hawkins4, Roger J. Ordidge5, James C. Moon6, Mark B. Pepys4, Mark F. Lythgoe1
1Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, Division of Medicine and Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom; 2Department of Medical Physics and Bioengineering, University College London, London, United Kingdom; 3Robert Steiner MRI Unit, Imaging Sciences Department, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom; 4Wolfson Drug Discovery Unit, Centre for Amyloidosis and Acute Phase Proteins, Division of Medicine, University College London, London, United Kingdom; 5Centre for Neuroscience, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia; 6Heart Hospital and Division of Medicine, University College London, London, United Kingdom
Equilibrium contrast MRI (EQ-MRI) was applied for the detection and monitoring of systemic amyloidosis in mice. Modest amyloid deposits in the heart were clearly detected by EQ-MRI even when cardiac function was not measureably impaired. An excellent discrimination between amyloidotic and control mice was observed in the liver where amyloid load is substantial. In addition, EQ-MRI was able to monitor the induction of amyloidosis and regression of amyloid deposits following the administration of a novel therapy, indicating the potential of this technique to monitor therapeutically induced amyloid regression.