1Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States, 2Radiology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States
Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS)-mediated
production of NO is an important system regulating the microvasculature,
controlling both vessel diameter and permeability. We hypothesized that T1 mapping of the heart
during NOS inhibition could detect increased water content resulting from increased
microvascular permeability, providing a novel means to noninvasively probe eNOS
regulation of the coronary microvasculature.
T1-mapping in mice after intravenous NOS inhibition detected an increase
in myocardial T1 of 113±15 ms compared to baseline (p<0.05). These methods are likely probing eNOS
regulation of coronary microvascular permeability, which may represent a novel
means of assessing the health of the coronary endothelium.
