3D inversion recovery ultrashort echo time MRI can detect demyelination in cuprizone-treated mice.

Purpose: To test the ability of inversion-recovery ultrashort echo time (IR-UTE) MRI to directly detect demyelination in mice using a standard cuprizone mouse model.

Methods: Non-aqueous myelin protons have ultrashort T₂s and are "invisible" with conventional MRI sequences but can be detected with UTE sequences. The IR-UTE sequence uses an adiabatic inversion-recovery preparation to suppress the long T₂ water signal so that the remaining signal is from the ultrashort T₂ myelin component. In this study, eight 8-week-old C57BL/6 mice were fed cuprizone (n = 4) or control chow (n = 4) for 5 weeks and then imaged by 3D IR-UTE MRI. The differences in IR-UTE signal were compared in the major white matter tracts in the brain and correlated with the Luxol Fast Blue histochemical marker of myelin.

Results: IR-UTE signal decreased in cuprizone-treated mice in white matter known to be sensitive to demyelination in this model, such as the corpus callosum, but not in white matter known to be resistant to demyelination, such as the internal capsule. These findings correlated with histochemical staining of myelin content.

Conclusions: 3D IR-UTE MRI was sensitive to cuprizone-induced demyelination in the mouse brain, and is a promising noninvasive method for measuring brain myelin content.