Abstract #1305

Blood brain barrier alterations precede ventriculomegaly in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

Sonia Waiczies¹, Laura Boehmert¹, Jason M. Millward², Stefanie Kox¹, Joao dos Santos Perquito¹, Till Huelnhagen¹, Carmen Infante-Duarte², Andreas Pohlmann¹, and Thoralf Niendorf^1,3

¹Berlin Ultrahigh Field Facility (B.U.F.F.), Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association, Berlin, Germany, ²Institute for Medical Immunology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany, ³Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC), a joint cooperation between the Charité Medical Faculty and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association, Berlin, Germany

Previously, we observed an enlargement of cerebral ventricles, prior to clinical disease manifestation, in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). In this study we investigated the kinetics of blood brain barrier (BBB) leakage in relation to changes in ventricle size during EAE progression using pre- and post-contrast T₁-weighted imaging and T₁-mapping. We show that BBB integrity is compromised even earlier than ventriculomegaly, which already occurs prior to the occurrence of neurological symptoms. Furthermore, a partial renormalization and reappearance of BBB disruptions was observed throughout the disease course and these changes appear to occur prior to the normalization and re-expansion of ventricle size.

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