The Possibility of Differentiation between Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis and Fatty Liver in Rabbits on Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced Open-type MRI Scans

Rationale and Objectives We used rabbits to investigate the possibility of differentiating between nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and fatty liver (FL) on scans acquired by open-type‒ and gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA)‒enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Materials and Methods We divided 15 adult rabbits into three equal groups; they received standard (control group), high-fat (FL) content (FL group), or choline-deficient chow (NASH group). With the animals under general anesthesia we acquired scans on an open 0.3-Tesla MRI system. Signal intensity (SI) was measured before and after contrast administration and defined as SI-pre and SI-post, respectively. Relative SI enhancement (Sr) was calculated using the equation: Sr = (average of three SI-post- minus average of three SI values in no-signal fields)/(average of three SI-pre- minus average of three SI values in no-signal fields) × 100. Maximum Sr (Srmax), the time (in seconds) required to reach Srmax (Tmax), and the difference between Srmax and Sr at 30 minutes (Sr30m R) were analyzed. Results Srmax was significantly higher in the NASH rabbits than the other two groups ( P < .05). Conclusions In rabbits, the Srmax value made it possible to differentiate NASH from normal and fatty liver.