The objective of this study was to develop an X-ray computed tomographic method for measuring pulmonary arterial dimensions and locations within the intact rat lung. Lungs were removed from rats and their pulmonary arterial trees were filled with perfluorooctyl bromide to enhance X-ray absorbance. The lungs were rotated within the cone of the X-ray beam projected from a microfocal X-ray source onto an image intensifier, and 360 images were obtained at 1 degrees increments. The three-dimensional image volumes were reconstructed with isotropic resolution using a cone beam reconstruction algorithm. The vessel diameters were obtained by fitting a functional form to the image of the vessel circular cross section. The functional form was chosen to take into account the point spread function of the image acquisition and reconstruction system. The diameter measurements obtained over a range of vascular pressures were used to characterize the distensibility of the rat pulmonary arteries. The distensibility coefficient alpha [defined by D(P) = D(0)(1 + alphaP), where D(P) is the diameter at intravascular pressure (P)] was approximately 2.8% mmHg and independent of vessel diameter in the diameter range (about 100 to 2,000 mm) studied.

The objective of this study was to develop an X-ray computed tomographic method for pulmonary arterial morphometry. The lungs were removed from a rat, and the pulmonary arterial tree was filled with perfluorooctyl bromide to enhance X-ray absorbance. At each of four pulmonary arterial pressures (30, 21, 12, and 5.4 mmHg), the lungs were rotated within the cone of the X-ray beam that was projected from a microfocal X-ray source onto an image intensifier, and 360 images were obtained at 1 degrees increments. The three-dimensional image volumes were reconstructed with isotropic resolution with the use of a cone beam reconstruction algorithm. The luminal diameter and distance from the inlet artery were measured for the main trunk, its immediate branches, and several minor trunks. These data revealed a self-consistent tree structure wherein the portion of the tree downstream from any vessel of a given diameter has a similar structure. Self-consistency allows the entire tree structure to be characterized by measuring the dimensions of only the vessels comprising the main trunk of the tree and its immediate branches. An approach for taking advantage of this property to parameterize the morphometry and distensibility of the pulmonary arterial tree is developed.

Manganese (Mn) is a calcium (Ca) analog that has long been used as a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent for investigating cardiac tissue functionality, for brain mapping and for neuronal tract tracing studies. Recently, we have extended its use to investigate pancreatic β-cells and showed that, in the presence of MnCl2, glucose activated pancreatic islets yield significant signal enhancement in T1-weigheted MR images. In this study, we exploited for the first time the unique capabilities of X-ray fluorescence microscopy (XFM) to both visualize and quantify the metal in pancreatic β-cells at cellular and sub-cellular levels. MIN-6 insulinoma cells grown in standard tissue culture conditions had only a trace amount of Mn, 1.14 ± 0.03 ×10-11 μg/μm2, homogenously distributed across the cell. Exposure to 2mM glucose and 50 μM MnCl2 for 20 minutes resulted in non-glucose dependent Mn uptake and the overall cell concentration increased to 8.99 ± 2.69 ×10-11 μg/μm2. When cells were activated by incubation in 16mM glucose in the presence of 50 μM MnCl2, a significant increase in cytoplasmic Mn was measured reaching 2.57 ± 1.34 ×10-10 μg/μm2. A further rise in intracellular concentration was measured following KCl induced depolarization, with concentrations totaling 1.25 ± 0.33 ×10-9 and 4.02 ± 0.71 ×10-10 μg/μm2 in the cytoplasm and nuclei respectively. In both activated conditions Mn was prevalent in the cytoplasm and localized primarily in a perinuclear region, possibly corresponding to the Golgi apparatus and involving the secretory pathway. These data are consistent with our previous MRI findings confirming that Mn can be used as a functional imaging reporter of pancreatic β-cell activation and also provide a basis for understanding how subcellular localization of Mn will impact MRI contrast

Autoimmune ablation of pancreatic β-cells and alteration of its microvasculature may be a predictor of Type I diabetes development. A dynamic manganese-enhanced MRI (MEMRI) approach and empirical mathematical model was developed to monitor whole pancreatic β-cell function and vasculature modifications in mice. Normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic FVB/N mice were imaged on a 9.4T MRI system using a 3D magnetization prepared rapid acquisition gradient echo pulse sequence to characterize low dose manganese kinetics in the pancreas head, body and tail. Average signal enhancement in the pancreas (head, body, and tail) as a function of time was fit by a novel empirical mathematical model characterizing contrast uptake/washout rates and yielding parameters describing peak signal, initial slope, and initial area under the curve. Signal enhancement from glucose-induced manganese uptake was fit by a linear function. The results demonstrated that the diabetic pancreatic tail had a significantly lower contrast uptake rate, smaller initial slope/initial area under the curve, and a smaller rate of Mn uptake following glucose activation (p < 0.05) compared to the normal pancreatic tail. These observations parallel known patterns of β-cell loss and alteration in supportive vasculature associated with diabetes. Dynamic MEMRI is a promising technique for assessing β-cell functionality and vascular perfusion with potential applications for monitoring diabetes progression and/or therapy.

Animal models and micro-CT imaging are useful for understanding the functional consequences of, and identifying the genes involved in, the remodeling of vascular structures that accompanies pulmonary vascular disease. Using a micro-CT scanner to image contrast-ennanced arteries in excised lungs from fawn hooded rats (a strain genetically susceptible to hyPoxia induced pulmonary hypertension), we found that portions of tne_pulmonary arterial tree downstream from a given diameter were morphometrically indistinguishable. This "self-consistency" propertY provided a means for summarizing the pulmonary arterial tree architecture and mechanical properties using a parameter vector obtained from measurements of the contiguous set of vessel segments comprising the longest (principal) pathway and its branches over a range of vascular pressures. This parameter vector was used to characterize the pulmonary vascular remodeling that o<;curred in rats exposed to a hypoxic (11.5% oxygen) environment and provided the input to a hemodynamic model relating structure to function. The major effect of the remodeling was a longitudinally (pulmonary artery to arterioles) uniform decrease in vessel , distensibility that resulted in a 90% increase in arterial resistance. Despite the almost uniform change in vessel distensibility, over 50% of the resistance increase was attributable to vessels. with unstressed diameters less than 125 microns.