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Region-specific maturation of cerebral cortex in human fetal brain: diffusion tensor imaging and histology

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Abstract

Introduction

In this study, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) immunohistochemical analysis in different cortical regions in fetal brains at different gestational age (GA) were performed.

Methods

DTI was performed on 50 freshly aborted fetal brains with GA ranging from 12 to 42 weeks to compare age-related fractional anisotropy (FA) changes in different cerebral cortical regions that include frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal lobes at the level of thalami. GFAP immunostaining was performed and the percentage of GFAP-positive areas was quantified.

Results

The cortical FA values in the frontal lobe peaked at around 26 weeks of GA, occipital and temporal lobes at around 20 weeks, and parietal lobe at around 23 weeks. A significant, but modest, positive correlation (r = 0.31, p = 0.02) was observed between cortical FA values and percentage area of GFAP expression in cortical region around the time period during which the migrational events are at its peak, i.e., GA ≤ 28 weeks for frontal cortical region and GA ≤ 22 weeks for rest of the lobes.

Conclusions

The DTI-derived FA quantification with its GFAP immunohistologic correlation in cortical regions of the various lobes of the cerebral hemispheres supports region-specific migrational and maturational events in human fetal brain.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by grant no. BT/416 PR5009/Med/14/581/2004 from the Department of Biotechnology, New Delhi, India. Richa Trivedi and Sona Saksena acknowledge the financial assistance from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, and Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi, India, respectively.

Conflict of interest statement

We declare that we have no conflict of interest

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiodiagnosis, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, UP, India, 226014

    Richa Trivedi, Rakesh K. Gupta & Sona Saksena

  2. Department of Pathology, CSM Medical University, Lucknow, India

    Nuzhat Husain & Savita Srivastava

  3. Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India

    Ram K. S. Rathore & Manoj K. Sarma

  4. Department of Pediatrics, CSM Medical University, Lucknow, India

    Gyanendra K. Malik

  5. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, CSM Medical University, Lucknow, India

    Vinita Das

  6. Department of Medical Genetics, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India

    Mandakini Pradhan

  7. Department of Biostatistics, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India

    Chandra M. Pandey

  8. Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Imaging, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, TX, USA

    Ponnada A. Narayana

Authors
  1. Richa Trivedi
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  2. Rakesh K. Gupta
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  8. Vinita Das
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  9. Mandakini Pradhan
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  12. Ponnada A. Narayana
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rakesh K. Gupta.

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Trivedi, R., Gupta, R.K., Husain, N. et al. Region-specific maturation of cerebral cortex in human fetal brain: diffusion tensor imaging and histology. Neuroradiology 51, 567–576 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-009-0533-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-009-0533-8

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