Abstract #1112

Dynamic Autoregulation in Pharmacological Mouse fMRI Revisited: Abrupt Changes in Systemic Blood Pressure Elicit Significant BOLD Effects in the Murine Brain

Henning Matthias Reimann¹, Mihail Todiras², Erdmann Seeliger³, Michael Bader^2,4,5, Andreas Pohlmann¹, and Thoralf Niendorf^1,6

¹Berlin Ultrahigh Field Facility (B.U.F.F.), Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in the Helmholtz Association, Berlin, Germany, ²Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in the Helmholtz Association, Berlin, Germany, ³Institute of Vegetative Physiology, Charité – University Medicine, Berlin, Germany, ⁴DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), Berlin, Germany, ⁵Department of Endocrinology, Charité – University Medicine, Berlin, Germany, ⁶Experimental and Clinical Research Center, a joint cooperation between the Charité Medical Faculty and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association, Berlin, Germany

Pharmacological fMRI (phfMRI) is widely utilized to study the effect of specific drugs on brain circuitries and neurotransmitter systems. Some drugs induce elevations in mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) which can increase cerebral blood flow (CBF) and translate into blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) effects. Dynamic autoregulation buffers abrupt changes in MABP to keep CBF relatively constant in a particular range, which was previously defined in rats as 60-120 mmHg and sanguinely applied to mice. By pharmacologically challenging and monitoring the MABP during fMRI we show that these limits of dynamic autoregulation do not apply to mice. Therefore murine phfMRI studies should be interpreted with caution.

This abstract and the presentation materials are available to members only; a login is required.

Join Here