Feng Zhao1, Li-Hong
Zhang2, Jing Yuan1, Queenie Chan3, David Yew2,
Yi-Xiang Wang1
1Department
of Imaging and Interventional Radiology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong,
Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong; 2Brain Research Centre, School of
Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong
Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong; 3Philips Healthcare, Hong Kong,
Hong Kong
T1rho relaxation has been suggested as a sensitive biomarker to detect Alzheimers disease and Parkinsons disease. Aging and hypertension are two major risk factors for common neurodegenerative diseases. Spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) is most extensively investigated for evaluating hypertensive brain damage. In this study, the T1rho values in thalamus, hippocampus and cortices of SHR and WKY control rats at the age of 6, 9 and 12-month were measured longitudinally. T1rho values in these regions of SHR were consistently higher than those in WKY rats. Meanwhile, the regional brain T1rho values of both SHR and WKY rats increased with aging process.