Cerebral arterial architectonics and CFD simulation in mice with type 1 diabetes mellitus of different duration

Abstract

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects tens of millions of people. Diabetes mellitus is one of the strongest factors in the development of cerebrovascular diseases. In this study we used NOD.CB17 Prkdcscid mice and the pharmacological model of type 1 diabetes mellitus of different duration to study changes in the cerebral vasculature. We used two combined approaches using magnetic resonance angiography both steady and transient CFD blood flow modeling. We identified the influence of type 1 diabetes on the architectonics and hemodynamics of the large blood vessels of the brain as the disease progresses. For the first time, we detected a statistically significant change in angioarchitectonics (the angles between the vessels of the circle of Willis, cross-sections areas of vessels) and hemodynamic (maximum blood flow rate, hydraulic resistance) in animals with diabetes duration of 2 months, that is manifested by the development of asymmetry of cerebral blood flow. The result shows the negative effect of diabetes on cerebral circulation as well as the practicability of CFD modeling. This may be of extensive interest, in pharmacological and preclinical studies.

Figure 1

Reconstruction stages of the vascular network geometry for one of the animals: (a) MRI data, (b) vector image.

Figure 2

Anatomy of the mice circle of Willis (CoW). (a): The arteries are common carotid artery (CCA), vertebral artery (VA), basilar artery (BA), anterior cerebral artery (ACA), posterior cerebral artery (PCA), middle cerebral artery (MCA), posterior communicating artery (PcoA) and anterior communicating artery (AcoA). – L denotes left side, and − R—right side. 1 is the angle between ACA_L and MCA_L, 2 is the angle between ACA_R and MCA_R, 3—the angle between ACA_L and PcoA_L, 4—the angle between ACA_R and PcoA_R, 5—the angle between ICA_L and PcoA_L, 6—the angle between ICA_R and PcoA_R, 7—the angle between PCA_L and PCA_R. (b): The cross-sectional planes.

Figure 3

CFD simulation results for one of animals: (a) Pressure distribution on the wall of the circulatory system, (b) Stream lines of the velocity vector, (c) Velocity field on cross-sectional planes: №2, №12, №13.

Figure 4

PLS-DA results: (a) steady calculation, (b) transient calculation. Groups of animals: 1, 2—the duration of the experiment in months, (c)—control, (d)—diabetes. Values are presented as mean $\pm$ SE.