White matter alteration in brain hemisphere contralateral to ligation in neonatal rat model of hypoxic-ischemic injury

Abstract

Purpose: This study aim to investigate the hypoxic-ischemic (HI) injury in brain hemisphere contralateral to ligation in neonatal rats with DTI. Rats with unilateral left carotid artery ligation were exposed to hypoxic environment for 1 hour (n=9) and 2 hours (n=9) to induce mild and severe HI injuries, respectively. They, together with intact controls (n=11) were longitudinally examined for changes in FA, axial and radial diffusivities. FA decrease and axial diffusivity increase were observed during the acute and subacute stage in the hemispheres contralateral to the ligation when compared to controls. The findings indicated that WM on seemingly normal contralateral hemisphere was indeed adversely affected, which may impact the long-term brain development after mild or severe HI injury.