关键词: 糖尿病, 坐骨神经细胞, 炎性因子, 多模态MRI, 相关性

Abstract: Objective　To discuss application of multimodal MRI combined with inflammatory factors in evaluating the morphological changes of the sciatic nerve of diabetic rabbits.Methods　Sixty eight New Zealand white rabbits were divided into normal control group (n=8) and model group (n=60) by a random number table. The model included the diabetes (DM) group (n=20) and diabetes peripheral neuropathy (DPN) group (n=40). The multimodal MRI findings, microcirculation factors (VEGF), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and C-reactive protein (CRP) of three groups were compared.Results The levels of VEGF, TNF-α, CRP of DM group and DPN group were significantly higher than that in the control group, while the levels of VEGF, TNF-α and CRP of the DPN group were significantly higher than that in the DM group (P<0.05). The cross-sectional area of nerves in both the DM and DPN groups were significantly higher than that in the control group, and the cross-sectional area of nerves in the DPN group was significantly higher than DM group (P<0.05). The conduction velocity of neural action potentials of DM group and DPN group were significantly lower than control group, and the conduction velocity of neural action potentials of DPN group was significantly lower than the DM group (P<0.05). The three-dimensional arterial spin labeling (3D-ASL), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and magnetic resonance functional imaging non-invasive quantitative evaluation indicators of cerebral blood flow (CBF) and anisotropy score (FA) of DM group and DPN group were significantly higher than those in the normal control group, with statistical significance (P<0.05). The non-invasive quantitative evaluation indicators CBF and FA values of 3D-ASL and DTI magnetic resonance functional imaging of DPN group were significantly higher than those in DM group, with statistical significance (P<0.05). The combined detection of multimodal MRI with VEGF, TNF-α and CRP had an area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.964, sensitivity of 95.00% and specificity of 95.00%, which were higher than the detection of CBF value, FA value, VEGF, TNF-α and CRP alone.Conclusion　The dynamic changes of serum VEGF, TNF-α and CRP levels in diabetes rabbits, combined with the changes of 3D-ASL and DTI functional magnetic resonance imaging parameters, can effectively reflect the stage evolution of sciatic nerve cell morphology. This multimodal non-invasive quantitative evaluation strategy provides objective and reproducible imaging evidence for early identification and staging diagnosis of sciatic nerve lesions in DPN rabbit models.

Key words: diabetes, sciatic nerve cells, inflammatory factors, multimodal MRI, correlation