Amyloid plaques are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) but are difficult to detect in vivo due to their small size. We investigated the utility of manganese-enhanced MRI (MEMRI) for visualizing plaques in the 5xFAD mouse model of AD. Plaque-like hypointensities were present in 3D gradient-echo images in all transgenic mice (n=4) but not wild type littermates (n=4). MP2RAGE T1-mapping (n=2/2) revealed reduced manganese uptake in 5xFAD brains, suggesting neurodegeneration. These results demonstrate the potential for MEMRI to provide biomarkers of AD-related neuropathologies that can be useful for monitoring disease progression and therapeutic response in animal models of AD.
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