Edwin Heijman1, Duncan Jack Hodkinson2,
Roland van de Molengraaf3, Brian Henry4, Shane McKie5,
Charles Sio1
1Philips Research Europe, Philips,
Eindhoven, Netherlands; 2Imaging Science and Biomedical
Engineering, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom; 3Life
Science Facilities, Philips Research, Philips, Eindhoven, Netherlands; 4Translational
Medicine Research Centre, Schering-Plough, Singapore, Singapore; 5Neuroscience
and Psychiatry Unit, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
In
this study we investigated the potential applications of a clinical 3T system
for pharmacological MRI (phMRI) in the rat brain. Using a human 3T MRI
scanner, a dynamic SE-EPI BOLD sequence was implemented to determine
alterations between pre- and post-injection of 5 mg/kg cocaine in male
Sprague-Dawley rats under isoflurane anesthesia. Data analysis was performed
using pseudoblock analyses. Cocaine-saline subtraction across the time
series, showed significant activations in cortico-limibc areas of the motor,
retrosplenial, and piriform cortex, extending to subcortical areas of the
antero-dorsal hippocampus. We conclude
that pre-clinical phMRI studies can be performed using 3T clinical scanners.
Keywords