Regional Cerebral Blood Volume Reduction in Transgenic Mutant APP (V717F, K670N/M671L) Mice

Recent advance in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) microimaging has enabled in vivo cerebral blood volume (CBV) mapping with high spatial resolution. Using an intravascular susceptibility contrast agent and T(2)-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on a 9.4T NMR microimager, the regional CBV was measured in mice as the transverse relaxation increase induced by the contrast agent. CBV maps in an Alzheimer's disease mouse model at resting state were obtained and examined. Four-month-old male transgenic mutant APP (V717F, K670N/M671L) mice (N = 10) and littermate wild-type controls (N = 12) were used. Regional analysis of the multi-slice CBV maps revealed statistically significant CBV reductions among the APP mice in cerebral cortex (-9.29%, P = 0.0002), hippocampus (-4.22%, P = 0.02), and thalamus (-5.21%, P = 0.03), indicating an early change of microvasculature in these selected regions. No significant difference was found in olfactory bulb, pons, midbrain, superior colliculus, medulla, and cerebellum.