Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Dec 21, 2021; 27(47): 8156-8165
Published online Dec 21, 2021. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v27.i47.8156
Multiparameter magnetic resonance imaging of liver fibrosis in a bile duct ligation mouse model
Jia-Yi Liu, Zhu-Yuan Ding, Zi-Yi Zhou, Sheng-Zhen Dai, Jie Zhang, Hao Li, Qiu Du, Ye-Yu Cai, Quan-Liang Shang, Yong-Heng Luo, En-Hua Xiao
Jia-Yi Liu, Zhu-Yuan Ding, Zi-Yi Zhou, Sheng-Zhen Dai, Jie Zhang, Ye-Yu Cai, Quan-Liang Shang, Yong-Heng Luo, En-Hua Xiao, Department of Radiology, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410011, Hunan Province, China
Hao Li, Department of Emergency Medicine, First People's Hospital of Changde City, Changde 415000, Hunan Province, China
Qiu Du, Department of Urology, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410005, Hunan Province, China
Author contributions: Liu JY, Luo YH and Xiao EH designed and coordinated the study; Liu JY, Ding ZY, Dai SZ performed the experiments, Li H, Du Q, Cai YY and Shang QL acquired and analyzed data; Shang QL interpreted the data; Liu JY and Luo YH wrote the manuscript; Luo YH and Xiao EH jointly supervised this work; all authors approved the final version of the article.
Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province, No. 2019JJ40444 (to Xiao EH) and 2021JJ30945 (to Luo YH).
Institutional review board statement: The protocol of our study was approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee of the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University (Approval No. 2020495).
Conflict-of-interest statement: None of the authors have identified a conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yong-Heng Luo, PhD, Attending Doctor, Department of Radiology, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, No. 139 Renming Middle Road, Changsha 410011, Hunan Province, China. luoyongheng@csu.edu.cn
Received: April 18, 2021
Peer-review started: April 18, 2021
First decision: June 13, 2021
Revised: June 15, 2021
Accepted: September 19, 2021
Article in press: September 19, 2021
Published online: December 21, 2021
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Bile duct ligation (BDL) in animals is a classical method for mimicking cholestatic fibrosis. Although different surgical techniques have been described in rats and rabbits, mouse models can be more cost-effective and reproducible for investigating cholestatic fibrosis. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has made great advances for noninvasive assessment of liver fibrosis. More comprehensive liver fibrotic features of BDL on MRI are important. However, the utility of multiparameter MRI to detect liver fibrosis in a BDL mouse model has not been assessed.

AIM

To evaluate the correlation between the pathological changes and multiparameter MRI characteristics of liver fibrosis in a BDL mouse model.

METHODS

Twenty-eight healthy adult male balb/c mice were randomly divided into four groups: sham, week 2 BDL, week 4 BDL, and week 6 BDL. Multiparameter MRI sequences, included magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography, T1-weighted, T2-weighted, T2 mapping, and pre- and post-enhanced T1 mapping, were performed after sham and BDL surgery. Peripheral blood and liver tissue were collected after MRI. For statistical analysis, Student’s t-test and Pearson’s correlation coefficient were used.

RESULTS

Four mice died after BDL surgery; seven, six, five and six mice were included separately from the four groups. Signal intensities of liver parenchyma showed no difference on TI- and T2-weighted images. Bile duct volume, ΔT1 value, T2 value, and the rate of liver fibrosis increased steadily in week 2 BDL, week 4 BDL and week 6 BDL groups compared with those in the sham group (P < 0.01). Alanine aminotransferase and aspartate transaminase levels initially surged after surgery, followed by a gradual decline over time. Strong correlations were found between bile duct volume (r = 0.84), T2 value (r = 0.78), ΔT1 value (r = 0.62), and hepatic fibrosis rate (all P < 0.01) in the BDL groups.

CONCLUSION

The BDL mouse model induces changes that can be observed on MRI. The MRI parameters correlate with the hepatic fibrosis rate and allow for detection of cholestatic fibrosis.

Keywords: Liver, Fibrosis, Magnetic resonance imaging, Pathology, Animal model, Bile duct ligation

Core tip: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is promising for the noninvasive assessment of liver fibrosis, but the utility of multiparameter MRI in the bile duct ligation (BDL) mouse model has not been assessed. We established an experimental BDL mouse model that mimicked various aspects of cholestatic fibrosis and evaluated the potential of multiparameter MRI for the assessment of cholestatic fibrosis. We found that the BDL mouse model induced a complex cascade of changes that were observed clearly on MRI. The T2 and ΔT1 values were well correlated with the hepatic fibrosis rate and may allow for the detection of cholestatic fibrosis.