Abstract #2290

Relation Between 1H & 31P MRS Biomarkers & Immunohistochemical Markers of Cell Death & Inflammation in a Perinatal Asphyxia Piglet Model

Nicola Jayne Robertson¹, Manigandan Chandrasekaran¹, Stuart Faulkner¹, Alan Bainbridge², Dorottya Kelen¹, Sudhin Thayyil¹, Ernest Cady¹, Xavier Golay³, Gennadij Raivich¹

¹Institute for Women's Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom; ²Medical Physics and Bioengineering, University College Hospitals, London, United Kingdom; ³UCL Institute of Neurology, United Kingdom

1H MRS thalamic lactate/NAA is used as a bridging biomarker in pre-clinical studies and as a surrogate endpoint in phase II perinatal asphyxia neuroprotection trials. We assessed the relation between 1H and 31P MRS biomarkers and immunohistochemical markers of cell death and neuroinflammation in our piglet perinatal asphyxia model. Lac/NAA showed a particularly strong positive correlation with TUNEL+ nuclei averaged across the forebrain at 48h (R2= 0.57). Other metabolite correlations were Pi/EPP (R2= 0.52), Lac/Cr (R2=0.50), NAA/Cr (R2=0.49), NTP/EPP (R2=0.36), PCr/EPP (R2=0.32), pHi (R2 = 0.14). Microglial ramification was particularly correlated with NTP/EPP (R2=0.40) and less with Lac/NAA (R2= 0.24).