Resting-state MRI reveals spontaneous physiological fluctuations in the kidney and tracks diabetic nephropathy in rats.

The kidneys maintain fluid-electrolyte balance and excrete waste in the presence of constant fluctuations in plasma volume and systemic blood pressure. The kidneys perform these functions to control capillary perfusion and glomerular filtration by modulating the mechanisms of autoregulation. An effect of these modulations are spontaneous, natural fluctuations in glomerular perfusion. Numerous other mechanisms can lead to fluctuations in perfusion and flow. The ability to monitor these spontaneous physiological fluctuations in vivo could facilitate the early detection of kidney disease. The goal of this work was to investigate the use of resting-state magnetic resonance imaging (rsMRI) to detect spontaneous physiological fluctuations in the kidney. We performed rsMRI of rat kidneys in vivo over 10 min, applying motion correction to resolve time series in each voxel. We observed spatially variable, spontaneous fluctuations in rsMRI signal between 0 and 0.3 Hz, in frequency bands associated with autoregulatory mechanisms. We further applied rsMRI to investigate changes in these fluctuations in a rat model of diabetic nephropathy. Spectral analysis was performed on time series of rsMRI signals in the kidney cortex and medulla. The power from spectra in specific frequency bands from the cortex correlated with severity of glomerular pathology caused by diabetic nephropathy. Finally, we investigated the feasibility of using rsMRI of the human kidney in two participants, observing the presence of similar, spatially variable fluctuations. This approach may enable a range of preclinical and clinical investigations of kidney function and facilitate the development of new therapies to improve outcomes in patients with kidney disease. NEW & NOTEWORTHY This work demonstrates the development and use of resting-state MRI to detect low-frequency, spontaneous physiological fluctuations in the kidney consistent with previously observed fluctuations in perfusion and potentially due to autoregulatory function. These fluctuations are detectable in rat and human kidneys, and the power of these fluctuations is affected by diabetic nephropathy in rats.