Andreas Pohlmann1,2, Victor Musoko2, Olga Woolmer3, Alison Robinson3, Jackie Buckton4, Anthony R. Hobson4, Michael F. James2
1Academic DPU, GlaxoSmithKline R&D Ltd, Cambridge, UK; 2Immuno-Inflammation CEDD, GlaxoSmithKline R&D Ltd, Harlow, UK; 3Laboratory Animal Science, GlaxoSmithKline R&D Ltd, Harlow, UK; 4Immuno-Inflammation CEDD, GlaxoSmithKline R&D Ltd, Stevenage, UK
In murine collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) visual scoring of arthritic changes in the paws is commonly used to assess disease severity and therapeutic efficacy. We developed quantitative in vivo MRI of hindpaw changes and studied the temporal progression of CIA. Analysis of contrast-enhanced T1-weighted MRI yielded volumes of enhancing tissue, soft tissue, and bone, which were directly compared with conventional scoring procedures. Significant increases with time in all measures were observed, except for bone, which only showed weak trends towards degradation. MRI may offer an objective and quantitative alternative to conventional biomarkers in CIA.