Detection of gray matter damage in neonatal rat model of mild hypoxic-ischemic insult by manganese-enhanced MRI

This study aims to use manganese-enhanced MRI (MEMRI) to investigate the progression and permanence of the gray matter injuries in a neonatal rat model of relatively selective white matter injury induced by mild H-I insult. The transient changes associated with gray matter injuries in the neonatal model of mild H-I insult were shown to be enhanced by systemic Mn2+ administration from 3rd day up to 21th day after hypoxic-ischemic insult. Such Mn enhancement paradigm may be potentially useful in detecting the gray matter injuries in late phase of neonatal models of selective white matter injuries that are not visible in the conventional T1-weighted image, T2-weighted image and diffusion weighted image