Effects of Neonatal Encephalopathy in Perinatal Animal Model via Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

• Grant number: 25/04612-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2025
• End date: December 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Morphology - Cytology and Cell Biology
• Principal Investigator: Silvia Honda Takada
• Grantee: Gabrielle Aguiar Mota
• Supervisor: Sidhartha Tan
• Host Institution: Centro de Matemática, Computação e Cognição (CMCC). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Santo André , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Wayne State University (WSU), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 24/00357-0 - Astrocytic Reactivity and Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability of Wistar Rats submitted to Neonatal Anoxia, BP.IC

Abstract

Perinatal asphyxia is an important public health problem worldwide, caused by a decrease in tissue O2 concentration and reduced blood flow to the tissue. Due to the high energy demand, the brain is particularly susceptible to asphyxia and the resulting injury is called hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). HIE affects 3 out of every 1000 full-term newborns, with a higher incidence in premature infants, and causes permanent sequelae such as cerebral palsy and cognitive deficits. Intracellularly, HIE triggers a series of reactions involving apoptosis, oxidative stress, damage to myelination and neuroinflammation. In neuroinflammation, in addition to microglial cells, activated astrocytes play an important role in the control and propagation of neuroinflammatory signals and may contribute to the pathophysiology of perinatal asphyxia. Additionally, glial cells are responsible for secreting pro-inflammatory cytokines and mediators that contribute to the permeabilization of the blood-brain barrier, exacerbating the neuroinflammation. This study aims to analyze the effects of neonatal encephalopathy in rabbits via magnetic resonance imaging. Dynamic MRI can provide important insights into the evaluation of regional brain injury caused by neuroinflammation. Especially when associated with the Diffusion-Weighted Imaging (DWI) technique, MRI is particularly useful for identifying areas of ischemia and inflammation as studied in this project.