ISMRM 24th Annual Meeting & Exhibition • 07-13 May 2016 • Singapore

Combined Educational & Scientific Session: Molecular Imaging of Inflammation & Infection

Skill Level: Intermediate to Advanced

Organizer: Natalie J. Serkova, Ph.D.

Monday 09 May 2016

Overview
The clinical importance of using MR techniques for detecting inflammation and infection is rapidly growing; novel contrast agents are under development. Tumor inflammation is increasingly recognised as an aggressive microenvironment for metatstatic spread; on the other hand, various clinical trials are focused on creating immunotherapies which will help the immune system to recognize and combat cancer cells. This is a new field with new challenges. This session will provide an overview of these challenges in combination with recent state of the art studies on applying MRI to detect or monitor either inflammation or infection.

Target Audience
Clinicians and M.D. & Ph.D. researchers who will benefit from tool and techniques for noninvasively measuring inflammation or infection.

Educational Objectives
Upon completion of this course, participants should be able to:

  • Assess the advantages and disadvantages of different MR techniques for measuring inflammation or infection;
  • Evaluate the added value of different MR approaches to monitor inflammation or infection; and
  • Understand the challenges and opportunites that MRI and novel contrast agents (targeted and untargeted nanoparticles) offer with respect to imaging inflammation or infection.

PROGRAM
Moderators: Francesca Branzoli, Natalie Serkova
10:45
 
  
 
Assessing CNS Vasculature and inflammation using dual GBCA and ferumoxytol-enhanced MRI
Edward Neuwelt
            Ferumoxytol as an MRI contrast can provide additional information on CNS lesions. Pre-clinical studies have used advanced neuroimaging techniques with ferumoxytol to evaluate tumor changes after different treatments in animal models as well as evaluation of acute neuroinflammation. Clinically, ferumoxytol has been used to differentiate tumor progression from pseudoprogression and also to evaluate inflammatory and vascular CNS lesions.  Dual-contrast imaging may mark the beginning of a multicontrast era when different contrast agents are applied for specific purposes to evaluate CNS lesions. Improved neuroimaging can potentially be incorporated into standard of care for assessing therapy-induced changes and tumor response to therapy. 
 

 
11:15
 
0082.   
Radiation-induced inflammatory response in tumor-bearing immune-compromised mice by SPIO-enhanced T2-MRI
Natalie Julie Serkova1, Kendra M Huber1, Barbara Frederick2, Elizabeth R Kessler3, Thomas W Flaig3, and Brian D Kabanagh2
1Anesthesiology, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO, United States, 2Radiation Oncology, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO, United States, 3Medical Oncology, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO, United States
Clinically, the radiation treatment (RT) is know to trigger an inflammatory response which can be beneficial for overall anti-cancer treatment efficacy. However, in pre-clinical mouse models, the tumor response to the RT is rather heterogenous. Our hypothesis is that tumor-associated macrophages which drive the pro-inflammatory response to the RT, are expressed differently in various mouse strains based on their genetic make-up. The goal of this study was to non-invasively assess the tumor inflammatory response to the RT based on iron oxide-induced changes in T2-MRI after injection of SPIO nanoparticles in two different mouse models with severely (NOD SCID) and moderately (nu/nu athymic) compromised immune system.

 
11:27
 
0083.   
Neuroimaging of Nipah Virus in a Syrian Hamster Model of Infection
Margaret R. Lentz1, Dima A. Hammoud2, Yu Cong1, Oscar Rojas1, David Thomasson1, Peter B. Jahrling1,3, and Michael R. Holbrook1
1Integrated Research Facility, NIAID, National Institutes of Health, Frederick, MD, United States, 2Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States,3Emerging Viral Pathogens Section, NIAID, National Insitutes of Health, Frederick, MD, United States
The purpose of this study was to utilize MRI  to assess alterations in the brain that occur in a Golden Syrian hamster infected with Nipah virus (NiV) via intranasal inoculation. Within 9 days of exposure to NiV, signal alterations were observed in the olfactory bulb in T2-weighted and FLAIR images, suggestive of inflammation and edema induced by NiV crossing the olfactory epithelium. The identification of non-invasive imaging biomarkers of acute NiV neurologic disease progression in this animal model could aid in the examination of potential vaccines and therapeutics.

 
11:39
 
  
 
Novel Imaging Tracers for Rapid and Noninvasive Assessment of Bacterial Infections - Permission Withheld
Sanjay Jain1
1Johns Hopkins Medical Institute
We are developing novel imaging tracers for rapid and noninvasive assessment of bacterial infections and to study antimicrobial pharmacokinetics.

 
12:09
 
0084.   
Diffusion and perfusion MR imaging indicate inflammation followed by fibrosis in a hepatitis B infected humanized mouse liver model
Prashant Chandrasekharan1, Dahai Zheng2, Kavita Kaur D/O Ranjit Singh1, Qingfeng Chen2, and Kai Hsiang Chuang1
1A*STAR, Singapore Bio Imaging Consortium, Singapore, Singapore, 2A*STAR, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Singapore, Singapore
Humanized mouse model of liver infection is essential to understand the role of the immune system during disease progression and therapeutic intervention. In this study we have used MRI functional imaging bio-markers to assess the pathology related to Hepatitis B infection in a humanized mouse liver model.

 
12:21
 
0085.   
Identifying carotid plaque inflammation using high and low molecular weight contrast agents
Jason Kraig Mendes1, Scott McNally1, Seong-Eun Kim1, Bradley D. Bolster2, Gerald S. Treiman3, and Dennis L. Parker1
1Radiology, University of Utah, SLC, UT, United States, 2Siemens Healthcare, SLC, UT, United States, 3Department of Veterans Affairs, SLC, UT, United States
Carotid plaque inflammation can be measured with dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE) MRI and is a marker for plaque instability. Despite this, DCE has not become a clinically viable tool in diagnosing carotid plaque instability and the corresponding stroke risk. The barrier to progress is a DCE protocol meeting requirements for clinical use to monitor medical treatment effect or failure. This project overcomes this barrier by developing a reliable and inclusive dual contrast DCE protocol to identify carotid plaque inflammation.

 
12:33
 
  
 
Panel Discussion
12:45
 
  
 
Adjournment & Meet the Teachers
         
 

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