Abstract #2275

Cortical Atrophy in Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis

Allan J. MacKenzie-Graham¹, Gilda A. Rinek¹, Stefan M. Gold², Andrew J. Frew¹, Cynthia Aguilar³, David R. Lin¹, Elizabeth Umeda¹, Rhonda R. Voskuhl¹, Jeffry R. Alger¹

¹University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States; ²Universitt Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany; ³Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA, United States

There are strong correlations between cortical atrophy observed by MRI and clinical disability in multiple sclerosis. The objective of this study was to evaluate the progression of cortical atrophy over time in vivo in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Volumetric changes in the cerebral cortices of EAE mice were quantified by collecting in vivo MR images and morphometry. We observed that though atrophy progressed differently in each individual animal, all mice with EAE demonstrated significant cortical atrophy compared to normal controls. This is the first report of progressive cortical atrophy in vivo in a mouse model of MS.