Brain of rats intoxicated with acrylamide: observation with 4.7 tesla magnetic resonance

When rats were injected intraperitoneally with acrylamide (50 mg/kg per day ) for 8 days, all animals developed ataxia and weakness in the hindlimbs. O n examining their brain with an ultrahigh-field (4.7 T) magnetic resonance (MR) spectrometer, the lateral ventricles on both sides and the third ventr icle were dilated. The aqueduct and cisterns were also enlarged. The size o f the cerebral cortex was quantified in three MR image slices covering the cerebrum. Compared with the images of the blain of body weight-matched cont rols, the cerebral cortex of rats intoxicated with acrylamide was found to be smaller in the primary motor area in all slices, and in the primary or s econdary sensory area in two slices. Taken together with previous enzymatic analyses, rats intoxicated with acrylamide (50 mg/kg per day for 8 days) s eem to represent an animal model of acrylamide encephalopathy not only bioc hemically but also structurally.