Yohan van de Looij1,2, Justin M. Dean3, Grgory Lodygensky1, Henrik Hagberg3, Petra S. Hppi1, Carina Mallard3, Rolf Gruetter4,5, Stphane V. Sizonenko1
1Division of Child Growth & Development, Department of Pediatrics, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; 2Laboratory for Functional and Metabolic Imaging, Ecole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; 3Perinatal Center, Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Gteborg, Sweden; 4Laboratory for Functional and Metabolic Imaging, Ecole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne , Lausanne, Switzerland; 5Department of Radiology, University of Geneva and Lausanne, Switzerland
White matter (WM) injury is a major cause of developmental disabilities in up to 75% infants after preterm birth. The goal of this study was to characterize changes in the fetal sheep brain following fetal lipopolysaccharide exposure by electroencephalography (EEG), DTI and neuropathology. Reduced FA correlated with histology and persistent drop in EEG amplitude revealed alterations in developing WM after fetal exposure to lipopolysaccharide. This work provides evidence of WM injuries following lipopolysaccharide detectable by DTI. This study could be of interest for clinical strategy in human preterm infants.