Neurobiology of Aging
Volume 32, Issue 12 , Pages 2299-2307, December 2011

A lifespan MRI evaluation of ventricular enlargement in normal aging mice

  • Chiao-Chi V. Chen

      Affiliations

    • Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academic Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
    • Functional and Micro-magnetic Resonance Imaging Core Facility, Academic Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
    • ,
  • Yu-Ying Tung

      Affiliations

    • Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academic Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
    • Functional and Micro-magnetic Resonance Imaging Core Facility, Academic Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
    • ,
  • Chen Chang

      Affiliations

    • Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academic Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
    • Functional and Micro-magnetic Resonance Imaging Core Facility, Academic Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author at: N123, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, 128 Section 2, Academia Rd. Nankang, Taipei 11529, Taiwan. Tel.: +886 2 27899027; fax: +886 2 27887641.

Received 18 May 2009; received in revised form 11 January 2010; accepted 18 January 2010. published online 08 February 2010.

Abstract 

Ventricular enlargement has been proposed as a structural biomarker for the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This biomarker, established in human patients, needs to be translated to animals to facilitate drug development for the disease. However, ventricular enlargement is not exclusive to AD, since the ventricle size increases during normal aging. A longitudinal characterization of ventricular enlargement in normal aging in mice is therefore crucial before further evaluations of mouse models or neurodegenerative diseases associated to brain atrophy. To this end, ventricular enlargement in normal aging mice was characterized over the lifespan (i.e., 2 years). The results showed that the overall ventricle size increased with age, with the expansion beginning during the early life stages and continuing to old age. The reported data represent a biomarker benchmark for normal aging mice under unmodified conditions. This provides a foundation for evaluating the validity of AD mouse models or the effects of potential drugs. The considerable physiological ventricular enlargement during normal aging must be considered in related experiments.

Keywords: Biomarker, Transgenic, Knockout, Volumetry, Age, Parkinson, Schizophrenia, Multiple sclerosis, Ventricular expansion, Cross-sectional, Ventricle size, Lateral ventricle, Third ventricle, Fourth ventricle, Cerebral aqueduct

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PII: S0197-4580(10)00043-6

doi:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2010.01.013

Neurobiology of Aging
Volume 32, Issue 12 , Pages 2299-2307, December 2011

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