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Neuroscience
Published

Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Blood-Brain Barrier permeability in Dementia.

Authors

Audrey Chagnot, Samuel R Barnes, Axel Montagne

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) are the two main causes of dementia with blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown being a common contributor. Recent advances in neuroimaging techniques offer new possibilities to understand how the brain functions in health and disease. This includes methods such as dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) which allows the detection of subtle regional changes in the BBB integrity. The purpose of this work is to provide a review on the recent DCE-MRI findings of subtle BBB leakage focusing on cSVD and AD, including both clinical and pre-clinical studies. Despite being widely used and well-established, we also highlight some of the DCE-MRI challenges and pitfalls faced in the context of dementia inherent to the subtle nature of BBB impairment.

PMID:34400249 | DOI:S0306-4522(21)00402-4

UK DRI Authors

Axel Montagne

Dr Axel Montagne

Group Leader

Exploring the link between cerebrovascular and inflamm-ageing to neurodegeneration and dementia

Dr Axel Montagne