fMRI of Hypothalamic Activation by Fasting in ob/ob Mice Using T2* and FDWI with High and Low B Values. a Comparative Study.

Blanca Lizarbe¹, Pilar Lopez-Larrubia¹, Sebastin Cerdn²

Obesity is a pandemic syndrome often associated to the most prevalent and morbid pathologies in developed countries. Body adiposity is thought to be regulated systemically through an endocrine adiposity-negative feedback loop, mainly supported by leptin interacting with hypothalamic nuclei. The leptin-null ob/ob mouse model exhibits decreased energy expenditure, hyperphagia and obesity. In this communication, we wish to characterize the activation by fasting in individual hypothalamic nuclei from ob/ob mice, using DWI at high b values, DWI at low b values and T2* imaging, comparing the results obtained with the three techniques