Liu JY, Ding ZY, Zhou ZY, Dai SZ, Zhang J, Li H, Du Q, Cai YY, Shang QL, Luo YH, Xiao EH. Multiparameter magnetic resonance imaging of liver fibrosis in a bile duct ligation mouse model. World J Gastroenterol 2021; 27(47): 8156-8165 [PMID: 35068860 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v27.i47.8156]
Corresponding Author of This Article
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
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Basic Study
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (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/
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 bythe 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 Processing time: 242 Days and 20.3 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background
Bile duct ligation (BDL) is a classical method for mimicking cholestatic fibrosis in animals. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has enabled significant advances in 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.
Research motivation
We hypothesized that the BDL mouse model can be characterized radiologically using MRI, which is a noninvasive method. The model can be further validated regarding radiological, quantitative, and analytical aspects.
Research objectives
Using a BDL mouse model to evaluate the correlation between the pathological changes and several parameters of MRI characteristics of liver fibrosis.
Research methods
Twenty-eight healthy adult male balb/c mice were included. They were randomly divided into four groups: Sham group and week 2 BDL, week 4 BDL and week 6 BDL groups. The MRI sequences included the following parameters: Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP), T1-weighted, T2-weighted, T2 mapping, and pre- and post-enhanced T1 mapping. All these were performed after sham and BDL surgery. Peripheral blood and liver tissue were collected after the MRI.
Research results
The bile duct volume, ΔT1 value, T2 value, and the rate of liver fibrosis increased steadily in the week 2 BDL, week 4 BDL and week 6 BDL groups compared to those in the sham group (P < 0.01). Strong correlations were found between bile duct volume, T2 value, ΔT1 value, and hepatic fibrosis rate (all P < 0.01) in all BDL groups.
Research conclusions
The BDL mouse model induces changes that are easily observed using MRI. The MRI parameters correlate with the hepatic fibrosis rate and enable the detection of cholestatic fibrosis.
Research perspectives
We believe that advanced MR techniques have considerable potential for widespread application in preclinical and clinical fields.
