MRI-Based Measurement of the Pancreatic Extracellular Volume Detects Immune Cell Infiltration in a Mouse Model of Type 1 Diabetes

Patrick Antkowiak¹, Brian Stevens¹, Marcia McDuffie¹, Frederick H. Epstein¹

In type 1 diabetes mellitus, immune cells invade the pancreas and destroy the insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells. The early detection of immune infiltration may represent a window for a therapeutic intervention. Currently, there are no ideal, widely clinically-useable methods to detect this infiltration. We hypothesized that the infiltrating cells would occupy and reduce the pancreatic extracellular volume in a mouse model of diabetes. We measured the pancreatic extracellular volume in mice, using the conventional contrast agent Gd-DTPA, and found that it decreased over time in a model of diabetes but remained unchanged in normal mice.