MRI detects blood-brain barrier alterations in a rat model of Alzheimer's disease and lung infection.

Pneumonia is a common infection in people suffering with Alzheimer's disease, leading to delirium, critical illness or severe neurological decline, which may be due to an amplified response of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to peripheral insult. We assess the response of the BBB to repeated lung infection in rat model of Alzheimer's disease (TgF344-AD), at 13- and 18-months old, using dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI and filter exchange imaging. Higher BBB water exchange rate is initially detected in infected TgF344-AD rats.

Early metabolic changes in the brain of Alzheimer's disease rats are driven by GLAST+ cells.

Glucose metabolic dysfunction is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology and is used to diagnose the disease or predict imminent cognitive decline. The main method to measure brain metabolism is positron emission tomography with 2-Deoxy-2-[F]fluoroglucose ([F]FDG-PET). The cellular origin of changes in the [F]FDG-PET signal in AD is controversial.