Glymphatic influx is negatively correlated with cerebral blood volume in male mice

  • Cell Rep. 2026 Mar 28;45(4):117182. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2026.117182.
Juchen Li  1 ,  Xingyue Liu  1 ,  Binshi Bo  2 ,  Mengchao Pei  2 ,  Kaiwei Zhang  2 ,  Chuanjun Tong  2 ,  Ming Jing  1 ,  Sheng Zhang  1 ,  Yufeng Li  1 ,  Jing Cang  3 ,  Zhifeng Liang  4 ,  Fang Fang  5
Affiliations
  • 1. Department of Pain Medicine, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
  • 2. Institute of Neuroscience, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
  • 3. Department of Pain Medicine, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 4. Institute of Neuroscience, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 5. Department of Pain Medicine, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
PMID: 41904953 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2026.117182
Abstract

The glymphatic system clears brain waste via cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) influx along perivascular spaces. While vasomotion (0.1-0.3 Hz vessel diameter oscillations) is a known driver of perivascular transport, it is unclear whether slower, tonic vascular changes-reflected by macroscopic cerebral blood volume (CBV)-also influence glymphatic function. Using multimodal mouse MRI, we quantify glymphatic influx, CBV, and CSF volume across six conditions: isoflurane, awake, isoflurane/dexmedetomidine, dexmedetomidine, caffeine, and ketamine/xylazine. Glymphatic influx increases with isoflurane/dexmedetomidine, dexmedetomidine, caffeine, and ketamine/xylazine but decreases with isoflurane versus awake. Across states, glymphatic influx correlates negatively with CBV and positively with extra-ventricular CSF volume. These findings indicate CBV may serve as a consciousness-independent, tonic vascular component that complements dynamic drivers such as vasomotion, suggesting CBV modulation as a potential strategy to enhance waste clearance in protein-aggregation diseases.

Keywords
CP: neuroscience; cerebral blood volume; cerebrospinal fluid; consciousness; glymphatic influx; multimodal MRI techniques.
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