T2 Relaxometry to Assess Inflammation & Fibrosis in an Acute & Chronic Murine Model of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Tom Dresselaers¹, Christine Breynaert², Gert Van Assche², Uwe Himmelreich¹

In human colon disease, the value of MRI and CT enterography as a non-invasive assessment tool of transmural inflammation and extraluminal complications is increasingly recognized. However, data on MR imaging as a screening tool to study murine ileitis or colitis are limited. In this study the feasibility of using T2-weighted imaging and T2 maps to distinguishing between a DSS induced acute and chronic murine colitis model was evaluated. T2 values are markedly different between the control, acute and chronic group. This is confirmed by histology which shows more fibrosis in the chronic versus acute model.