Abnormal oxidative metabolism in the cuprizone mouse model of demyelination: An in vivo NIRS-MRI study

Disruptions in oxidative metabolism may occur in multiple sclerosis and other demyelinating neurological diseases. The impact of demyelination on metabolic rate is also not understood. It is possible that mitochondrial damage may be associated with many such neurological disorders. To study oxidative metabolism with one model of demyelination, we implemented a novel multimodal imaging technique combining Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) and MRI to cuprizone mouse model. The cuprizone model is used to study demyelination and may be associated with inhibition of mitochondrial function. Cuprizone mice showed reduced oxygen extraction fraction (−39.1%, p ≤ 0.001), increased tissue oxygenation (6.4%, p ≤ 0.001), and reduced cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen in cortical gray matter (−62.1%, p ≤ 0.001). These changes resolved after the cessation of cuprizone exposure and partial remyelination. A decrease in hemoglobin concentration (−34.4%, p ≤ 0.001), but no change in cerebral blood flow were also observed during demyelination. The oxidized state of the mitochondrial enzyme, Cytochrome C Oxidase (CCO) increased (46.3%, p ≤ 0.001) while the reduced state decreased (−34.4%, p ≤ 0.05) significantly in cuprizone mice. The total amount of CCO did not change significantly during cuprizone exposure. Total CCO did decline after recovery both in control (−23.1%, p ≤ 0.01) and cuprizone (−28.8%, p ≤ 0.001) groups which may relate to age. A reduction in the magnetization transfer ratio, indicating demyelination, was found in the cuprizone group in the cerebral cortex (−3.2%, p ≤ 0.01) and corpus callosum (−5.5%, p ≤ 0.001). In summary, we were able to detect evidence of altered CCO metabolism during cuprizone exposure, consistent with a mitochondrial defect. We observed increased oxygenation and reduced metabolic rate associated with reduced myelination in the gray and white matter. The novel multimodal imaging technique applied here shows promise for noninvasively assessing parameters associated with oxidative metabolism in both mouse models of neurological disease and for translation to study oxidative metabolism in the human brain.