Altered diffusion tensor imaging measurements in aged transgenic Huntington disease rats.
Abstract
Rodent models of Huntington disease (HD) are valuable tools for investigating HD pathophysiology
and evaluating new therapeutic approaches. Non-invasive characterization of HD-related
phenotype changes is important for monitoring progression of pathological processes
and possible effects of interventions. The first transgenic rat model for HD exhibits
progressive late-onset affective, cognitive, and motor impairments, as well as neuropathological
features reflecting observations from HD patients. In this report, we contribute to
the anatomical phenotyping of this model by comparing high-resolution ex vivo DTI
measurements obtained in aged transgenic HD rats and wild-type controls. By region
of interest analysis supplemented by voxel-based statistics, we find little evidence
of atrophy in basal ganglia regions, but demonstrate altered DTI measurements in the
dorsal and ventral striatum, globus pallidus, entopeduncular nucleus, substantia nigra,
and hippocampus. These changes are largely compatible with DTI findings in preclinical
and clinical HD patients. We confirm earlier reports that HD rats express a moderate
neuropathological phenotype, and provide evidence of altered DTI measures in specific
HD-related brain regions, in the absence of pronounced morphometric changes.
Type
Journal articleSubject
AgingAnimals
Atrophy
Brain
Diffusion Tensor Imaging
Disease Models, Animal
Humans
Huntingtin Protein
Huntington Disease
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Nerve Tissue Proteins
Rats
Rats, Transgenic
Trinucleotide Repeat Expansion
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/13090Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1007/s00429-012-0427-0Publication Info
Antonsen, Bjørnar T; Jiang, Yi; Veraart, Jelle; Qu, Hong; Nguyen, Huu Phuc; Sijbers,
Jan; ... Leergaard, Trygve B (2013). Altered diffusion tensor imaging measurements in aged transgenic Huntington disease
rats. Brain Struct Funct, 218(3). pp. 767-778. 10.1007/s00429-012-0427-0. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/13090.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
G. Allan Johnson
Charles E. Putman University Distinguished Professor of Radiology
Dr. Johnson is the Charles E. Putman University Professor of Radiology, Professor
of Physics, and Biomedical Engineering, and Director of the Duke Center for In Vivo
Microscopy (CIVM). The CIVM is an NIH/NIBIB national Biomedical Technology Resource
Center with a mission to develop novel technologies for preclinical imaging (basic
sciences) and apply the technologies to critical biomedical questions. Dr. Johnson
was one of the first researchers to bring Paul Lauterbur's vision of magnetic resona

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