4-T MRI monitoring of early MASH progression and therapeutic response in a prefibrotic mouse model

OBJECTIVE: Early intervention in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) is critical to halt disease progression. However, noninvasive tools for monitoring early-stage MASH and therapeutic efficacy in preclinical models remain limited, impeding preclinical drug development. This study establishes an integrated approach using multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 9.4 T to dynamically track disease development and drug response in a prefibrotic MASH mouse model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: mapping, and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI)-were performed every 4 weeks and correlated with histopathology. RESULTS: by 46% (p < 0.001), and ADC increased 1.4-fold (p = 0.017) compared to the vehicle group. CONCLUSION: This work demonstrates multiparametric MRI as a powerful noninvasive platform for monitoring early MASH dynamics and treatment response. By enabling longitudinal assessment in a prefibrotic model, this approach accelerates translational research in MASH diagnosis and drug development. RELEVANCE STATEMENT: The established multiparametric MRI evaluation system provides a valuable noninvasive monitoring platform for preclinical early-stage MASH research, demonstrating significant potential to accelerate the translational progress in MASH diagnosis and drug development. KEY POINTS: A novel prefibrotic MASH model was established to assess early-stage MASH progression. Multiparametric MRI at 9.4 T enables noninvasive, longitudinal monitoring of early MASH. Semaglutide-induced improvement in steatosis and inflammation can be monitored by multiparametric MRI.