Human and nonhuman primate meninges harbor lymphatic vessels that can be visualized noninvasively by MRI

Here, we report the existence of meningeal lymphatic vessels in human and nonhuman primates (common marmoset monkeys) and the feasibility of noninvasively imaging and mapping them in vivo with high-resolution, clinical MRI. On T2-FLAIR and T1-weighted black-blood imaging, lymphatic vessels enhance with gadobutrol, a gadolinium-based contrast agent with high propensity to extravasate across a permeable capillary endothelial barrier, but not with gadofosveset, a blood-pool contrast agent. The topography of these vessels, running alongside dural venous sinuses, recapitulates the meningeal lymphatic system of rodents. In primates, meningeal lymphatics display a typical panel of lymphatic endothelial markers by…

• NM
  National Multiple Sclerosis Society
• CN
  Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
• LE
  Lymphatic Education and Research Network
• LM
  Lantheus Medical Imaging
• NI
  National Institutes of Health
• NI
  National Institute on Aging

  Award: R01AG034113
• NC
  National Cancer Institute
• NI
  National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke