Monitoring diffuse injury during disease progression in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis with on resonance variable delay multiple pulse (onVDMP) CEST MRI.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disorder that targets myelin proteins and results in extensive damage in the central nervous system in the form of focal lesions as well as diffuse molecular changes. Lesions are currently detected using T1-weighted, T2-weighted, and gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); however, monitoring such lesions has been shown to be a poor predictor of disease progression. Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) MRI is sensitive to many of the biomolecules in the central nervous system altered in MS that cannot be detected using conventional MRI. We monitored disease progression in an experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) model of MS using on resonance variable delay multiple pulse (onVDMP) CEST MRI. Alterations in onVDMP signal were observed in regions responsible for hindlimb function throughout the central nervous system. Histological analysis revealed glial activation in areas highlighted in onVDMP CEST MRI. onVDMP signal changes in the 3rd ventricle preceded paralysis onset that could not be observed with conventional MRI techniques. Hence, the onVDMP CEST MRI signal has potential as a novel imaging biomarker and predictor of disease progression in MS.