Matthew D. Budde1, L. Christine Turtzo2, Eric Gold2, Lindsay Janes3, Bobbi Lewis3, Joseph A. Frank, 23
1Neurosurgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States; 2Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine, Bethesda, MD, United States; 3Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States
We sought to investigate whether dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE) MRI could be used to monitor BBB disruption in a rat model of TBI and whether interferon beta-1b, a drug that stabilizes the blood brain barrier (BBB) and has anti-inflammatory properties, would be effective. Although the BBB was severely disrupted between 30 minutes and 7 days following injury, it did not correlate with outcome, nor did interferon beta-1b affect alter disease course. DCE effectively monitors vascular injury following TBI, but significant challenges remain in modulating the injury.