Abstract #2273

Reduced Manganese Enhancement and Flow in the Olfactory Pathway in Mice with Experimental Neuropsychiatric Lupus Demonstrated by Manganese Enhanced MRI

Tammar Kushnir¹, Shaye Kivity², Eli Konen¹, David Manor¹, Nancy Agmon-Levin², Miri Blank², Joab Chapman³, Yehuda Shoenfeld², Galia Tsarfaty¹

¹Dept. of Diagnostic Imaging, MRI Unit, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel; ²Center of Autoimmune Diseases, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel; ³Dept. of neurology, Sagol Neuroscience Center, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel

Manganese enhanced MRI (MEMRI) allows in-vivo mapping of functional neuronal connections in the brain. The method was used to investigate the olfactory system in mice with experimental neuropsychiatric lupus (NPSLE), induced by intra-cerebro-ventricular injection of anti-ribosomal-P antibodies. MEMRI scans were performed before and 40 hours after intranasal MnCl2 administration. NPSLE induction resulted in a depression-like behavior accompanied with a significant deficit in olfactory function. MEMRI demonstrated impaired olfactory neuronal function expressed as a significant reduction in normalized manganese enhancement and flow throughout of the olfactory pathway, compared to healthy mice. Our results propose that autoimmune-CNS conditions may influence olfactory function.