Relationship between the post-contractile MRI blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response and markers of disease progression in Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Maria Berru

Authors:  Maria Berru, Christopher Lopez, Alex Roetzheim, Andres Saavedra, Glenn Walter, Krista Vandenborne, Tanja Taivassalo, Sean C. Forbes

Faculty Mentor:  Sean C. Forbes

College:  College of Public Health and Health Professions

Abstract

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is characterized by a progressive replacement of muscle by fat and fibrous tissue, muscle weakness, and loss of functional abilities. Muscle fat fraction (FF) determined by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and clinical functional measures are established markers of disease progression in DMD. Impaired oxygen delivery has also been observed in DMD, and this can be evaluated using the MRI blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) response after muscle contractions. The objective of this study was to determine whether the post-contractile MRI BOLD response is correlated with markers of disease progression in DMD, including FF of lower leg muscles and functional assessments. Young DMD boys (n=15, 5-14 years) and unaffected controls (n=16, 5-14 years) were evaluated using MRI BOLD, FF, and functional assessments. The BOLD response was measured following five brief maximal voluntary contractions, separated by one minute. FF from lower extremity muscles were quantified via Dixon imaging. Functional assessments (10m walk/run time, 4-stair climb time, supine to stand time, and 6-minute walk test) were used to assess functional abilities. The direct relationship observed between the post-contractile peak MRI BOLD response and FF suggests that the MRI BOLD measure may be used to track disease progression in DMD.

Poster Pitch

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Poster

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13 Responses
  1. Sammy

    Good work Maria!

    I was just curious, the poster talks about ROIs being drawn of the lower leg muscles. Do you know what specific muscles were analyzed?

    Thanks!

    1. Maria Berru

      Thank you Sammy!

      The ROIs of interest were the muscles of the lower leg, including the tibialis anterior, extensor digitorum longus, soleus, medial and lateral gastrocnemius.

  2. Maria Berru

    Thank you Sammy!

    The ROIs of interest were the muscles of the lower leg, including the tibialis anterior, extensor digitorum longus, soleus, medial and lateral gastrocnemius.

  3. Tanja Taivassalo

    Great work Maria!!! This is such interesting work and will be helpful in future studies!

  4. Alexandra Rubin

    Hi Maria!

    Really great job with your poster and your presentation! You presented really well and you seem very confident and informed on the subject. Thanks for teaching me something new today!

  5. Alison Barnard

    Maria, nice poster and nice job talking it through! I am embarassingly unfamiliar with BOLD. You describe it as a measure of microvascular function. Is it fair to assume that individuals with worse BOLD response have more muscle ischemia with exercise or it that too much of a leap to make?

    1. Maria Berru

      Thank you, Alison.

      Although we only look at the response after contractions during recovery, we would anticipate that there are some deficits during exercise too.

    1. Maria Berru

      Thank you Dennis!

      The dynamometer is a custom built MRI compatible exercise device with an Interface force transducer.