Abstract #0471

phMRI with Simultaneous Measurement of Cerebral Perfusion and Blood-Cerebrospinal Fluid Barrier Function using Interleaved Echo-Time ASL

Charith Perera¹, Jack Wells¹, Ian Harrison¹, David Thomas^2,3,4, and Mark Lythgoe¹

¹Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, University College London, London, United Kingdom, ²Neuroradiological Academic Unit, Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom, ³Leonard Wolfson Experimental Neurology Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom, ⁴Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom

We employed an interleaved short/long echo-time ASL sequence to better understand the differential response of vessels associated with the blood brain barrier (BBB), and the relatively understudied blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier (BCSFB) to pharmacological perturbation in the healthy and aged brain. We measured changes in both cortical perfusion and the BCSFB-ASL signal in response CO₂, caffeine, and vasopressin. Additionally, we demonstrated a marked decrease in BCSFB reactivity towards vasopressin in the aged vs adult brain. Together, these novel data highlight the value of this translational approach to capture simultaneous and differential pharmacological modulation of vessel tone at the BBB and BCSFB.

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