Abstract
Neurovascular injury has been proposed as a universal pathological hallmark of traumatic brain injury (TBI) with molecular markers of angiogenesis and endothelial function associated with injury severity and morbidity. Sex differences in the neurovasculature response post-TBI may contribute to the differences seen in how males and females respond to injury. Steady-state contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (SSCE-MRI) can be used to non-invasively assess the neurovasculature and may be a useful tool in understanding and predicting outcomes post-TBI. Here we used SSCE-MRI to investigate the neurovasculature of male and female rats at 48 h after an experimental TBI, and how these changes related to neuromotor function at 1-week post-TBI. In addition to TBI induced changes, we found that female rats had greater vessel density, greater cerebral blood volumes and performed better on a neuromotor task than their male counterparts. These results suggest that acute post-TBI cerebrovascular function is worse in males, and that this may contribute to the greater functional deficits observed post-injury. Furthermore, these results highlight the potential of SSCE-MRI to provide insights into the cerebral microvasculature post-TBI. Future studies, incorporating both males and females, are warranted to investigate the evolution of these changes and the underlying mechanisms.
Highlights
Neurovascular injury has been proposed as a universal pathological hallmark of traumatic brain injury (TBI) with molecular markers of angiogenesis and endothelial function associated with injury severity and morbidity
The majority of experimental TBI research has been conducted in males, creating a void with respect to understanding how the female brain responds to TBI
We employed SSCE-MRI to interrogate the microvasculature of male and female rats given experimental TBI at 48 h post-injury, and how SSCE-MRI measures relate to neuromotor function at 1 week-post injury
Summary
Neurovascular injury has been proposed as a universal pathological hallmark of traumatic brain injury (TBI) with molecular markers of angiogenesis and endothelial function associated with injury severity and morbidity. We used SSCE-MRI to investigate the neurovasculature of male and female rats at 48 h after an experimental TBI, and how these changes related to neuromotor function at 1-week post-TBI. In addition to TBI induced changes, we found that female rats had greater vessel density, greater cerebral blood volumes and performed better on a neuromotor task than their male counterparts. These results suggest that acute post-TBI cerebrovascular function is worse in males, and that this may contribute to the greater functional deficits observed post-injury. SSCE-MRI derived measurements of vessel density and size have a strong positive correlation with histological measurements[13,14], and the technique has been utilized to monitor the treatment effect of drugs targeting angiogenesis[15]
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have