Scleroderma is an autoimmune disease leading to fibrosis resulting in stiff skin, formation of ulcers, joint contractures and ultimately functional incapacity. Loss of dermal white adipose tissue (dWAT) was observed ex-vivo prior to the development of fibrosis. In this study we demostrated the feasibility of employing CSE MRI Dixon technique to detect and quantify in-vivo dWAT thickness using a genetic Fra-2 fibrosis mice model. The proposed non-invasive diagnostic method to evaluate or predict skin fibrosis would greatly improve clinicians’ ability to track progression and response to treatment and also provide a tool to investigate pathogenesis in animal models.
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