Our framework is based on stereotaxic injections of neurotoxins (saline contralaterally) in the rat hippocampus, followed by MRI acquisition, perfusion and histology. Specifically, we injected: i) lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to induce microglia and astrocyte reactivity, ii) ibotenic acid to induce microglia reactivity, proliferation and neuronal death in the hippocampus, and axonal damage in the fimbria, i.e., its main projection to the prefrontal cortex, and iii) LPS animals pre-treated with PLX5622 to deplete microglia and isolate astrocyte. Then, the rats underwent an MRI protocol comprising a stimulated echo diffusion weighted MRI sequence (b=0, 2000 and 4000 s/mm2, diffusion times 15-60 ms).

Peer reviewed