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Rapid and Progressive Regional Brain Atrophy in CLN6 Batten Disease Affected Sheep Measured with Longitudinal Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Sawiak, Stephen J 
Perumal, Sunthara Rajan 
Rudiger, Skye R 
Matthews, Loren 
Mitchell, Nadia L 

Abstract

Variant late-infantile Batten disease is a neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis caused by mutations in CLN6. It is a recessive genetic lysosomal storage disease characterised by progressive neurodegeneration. It starts insidiously and leads to blindness, epilepsy and dementia in affected children. Sheep that are homozygous for a natural mutation in CLN6 have an ovine form of Batten disease Here, we used in vivo magnetic resonance imaging to track brain changes in 4 unaffected carriers and 6 affected Batten disease sheep. We scanned each sheep 4 times, between 17 and 22 months of age. Cortical atrophy in all sheep was pronounced at the baseline scan in all affected Batten disease sheep. Significant atrophy was also present in other brain regions (caudate, putamen and amygdala). Atrophy continued measurably in all of these regions during the study. Longitudinal MRI in sheep was sensitive enough to measure significant volume changes over the relatively short study period, even in the cortex, where nearly 40% of volume was already lost at the start of the study. Thus longitudinal MRI could be used to study the dynamics of progression of neurodegenerative changes in sheep models of Batten disease, as well as to assess therapeutic efficacy.

Description

Keywords

Animals, Atrophy, Body Weight, Brain, Disease Progression, Female, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Membrane Proteins, Neuronal Ceroid-Lipofuscinoses, Organ Size, Phenotype, Sheep

Journal Title

PLoS One

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1932-6203
1932-6203

Volume Title

10

Publisher

Public Library of Science (PLoS)