Mapping acute neuroinflammation in vivo with diffusion-MRI in rats given a systemic lipopolysaccharide challenge.

It is becoming increasingly apparent that neuroinflammation plays a critical role in an array of neurological and psychiatric disorders. Recent studies have demonstrated the potential of diffusion MRI (dMRI) to characterize changes in microglial density and morphology associated with neuroinflammation, but these were conducted mostly ex vivo and/or in extreme, non-physiological animal models. Here, we build upon these studies by investigating the utility of well-established dMRI methods to detect neuroinflammation in vivo in a more clinically relevant animal model of sickness behavior.

Nitroglycerin as a model of migraine: Clinical and preclinical review.

Migraine stands as one of the most disabling neurological conditions worldwide. It is a disorder of great challenge to study given its heterogeneous representation, cyclic nature, and complexity of neural networks involved. Despite this, clinical and preclinical research has greatly benefitted from the use of the nitric oxide donor, nitroglycerin (NTG), to model this disorder, dissect underlying mechanisms, and to facilitate the development and screening of effective therapeutics.