Row Fogo Centre for Research into Ageing and the Brain
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New publication in Neuroscience

Publication date: October 2021

Publication title: "Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Blood-Brain Barrier permeability in Dementia ".   
Authors: Chagnot A, Barnes SR, Montagne A. 

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.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; blood-brain barrier; cerebral small vessel disease; dementia; magnetic resonance imaging.

 

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