Region-Specific Susceptibilities to Cuprizone-Induced Demyelination of C57BL/6 Mouse: In vivo T2WI and DTI Studies at 7.0T

The cuprizone (CPZ) mouse model of demyelination was recognized and used to explore multiple sclerosis (MS)-like brain lesions. In this study, we assessed CPZ-treated mice using T 2 -weighted imaging and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). C57BL/6 mice treated with 2 weeks of 0.2 % CPZ-containing diet ( n = 10) and regular chow diet ( n = 10) were scanned with a 7.0 T MRI scanner (Agilent, USA), respectively, using fast spin-echo and fast spin-echo DTI sequences. The normalized T 2 signal intensity (normalized to the cerebrospinal fluid) was calculated and fractional anisotropy (FA value), mean diffusivity, axial diffusivity and radial diffusivity were measured in the brain region of the cerebral cortex (CTX), caudate putamen (CP), hippocampus (HP) and thalamus (TH). Compared with controls, increased normalized T 2 signal intensities and reduced FA values ( p