Figure 1.

Magnetic resonance findings in experimental cerebral malaria (ECM) and neurofilament light (NfL) chain plasma levels. (a) Representative sagittal T2-weighted images of healthy and ECM mice with reversible and irreversible edema are shown. Healthy mice pre-infection show no pathological T2w-weighted signal increase (first image) while mice with reversible edema exhibit increased T2w signal in the olfactory bulb (second image). In contrast, mice with irreversible edema show a more pronounced edema, that extends from the olfactory bulb to the rostral and dorsal migratory stream with milder T2w signal increase also in the cortex and brainstem (third image). (b) T1-substraction images, of the same mice depicted in (a) are presented, displaying contrast agent leakage indicative of blood–brain barrier disruption (BBBD). The dotted circles highlight the regions olfactory bulb (left), cortex (middle) and brainstem (right) for each mouse. Signal intensities for these regions are plotted in (c). Mice with reversible and irreversible edema show a significantly higher contrast agent leakage in the olfactory bulb than healthy mice pre-infection. Mice suffering from irreversible edema show a more pronounced BBBD than healthy mice pre-infection or mice with reversible edema in all brain regions. (n_{healthy pre-infection} = 11, n_{reversible edema} = 4, n_{irreversible edema} = 7) (d) Total brain volumes for each mouse is displayed. Mice with more severe disease show a significantly higher brain volume compared to healthy mice pre-infection and mice with reversible edema. (n_{healthy pre-infection} = 13, n_{reversible edema} = 6, n_{irreversible edema} = 7) (e) NfL plasma levels are significantly increased in ECM mice compared to healthy control mice. No significant difference between reversible and irreversible edema is evident. (n_{healthy controls} = 5, n_{reversible edema} = 6, n_{irreversible edema} = 9).