Relationship between cognitive impairment and hippocampal iron overload: A quantitative susceptibility mapping study of a rat model

作者：Xi Deng, Meiru Bu, Jiali Liang, Yihao Sun, Liyan Li, Heishu Zheng, Zisan Zeng, Muliang Jiang, Bihong T. Chen · 发表于：NeuroImage · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121006 · 被引用次数：6 · 研究领域：Hemoglobinopathies and Related Disorders、Iron Metabolism and Disorders、Advanced MRI Techniques and Applications

• Iron overloaded rat groups showed significantly higher hippocampal magnetic susceptibility values compared to the control group. • Rats with iron overload had longer escape latencies and fewer platform crossings in the Morris water maze, indicating impaired spatial reference memory. • Quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) effectively quantified brain iron overload in vivo, highlighting its potential for assessing cognitive impairment in thalassemia patients. The aim of this study was to establish an iron overload rat model to simulate the elevated iron levels in patients with thalassemia and to investigate the potential association between hippocampal iron deposition and cognition. Two groups of iron overloaded rats and one group of control rats were used for this study. The Morris water maze (MWM) was used to test spatial reference memory indicated by escape latency time and number of MWM platform crossings. The magnetic susceptibility value of the hippocampal tissue, a measure of iron deposition, was assessed by quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) and was correlated with spatial reference memory performance. The iron content in hippocampal tissue sections of the rats were assessed using diaminobenzidine (DAB)-enhanced Perl's Prussian blue (PPB) staining. The rat groups with iron overload including the Group H and Group L had higher hippocampal magnetic susceptibility values than the control rat group, i.e., Group D. In addition, the iron overloaded groups had lo...