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J. Imaging
Volume 11
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10.3390/jimaging11100369
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Article

Preclinical Application of Computer-Aided High-Frequency Ultrasound (HFUS) Imaging: A Preliminary Report on the In Vivo Characterization of Hepatic Steatosis Progression in Mouse Models

by
Sara Gargiulo
1,2,*,
Matteo Gramanzini
3,
Denise Bonente
4,
Tiziana Tamborrino
4,
Giovanni Inzalaco
1,2,
Lisa Gherardini
1,2,
Lorenzo Franci
1,2,
Eugenio Bertelli
5,
Virginia Barone
5 and
Mario Chiariello
1,2
1
Institute of Clinical Physiology, National Research Council, 53100 Siena, Italy
2
Core Research Laboratory (CRL), Istituto per lo Studio la Prevenzione e la Rete Oncologica (ISPRO), 53100 Siena, Italy
3
Institute of Crystallography, National Research Council, Montelibretti Division, 00010 Rome, Italy
4
Department of Life Sciences, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy
5
Department of Molecular and Developmental Medicine, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
J. Imaging 2025, 11(10), 369; https://doi.org/10.3390/jimaging11100369
Submission received: 26 August 2025 / Revised: 6 October 2025 / Accepted: 16 October 2025 / Published: 17 October 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Translational Preclinical Imaging: Techniques, Applications and Perspectives)
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Abstract

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is one of the most common chronic liver disorders worldwide and can lead to inflammation, fibrosis, and liver cancer. To better understand the impact of an unbalanced hypercaloric diet on liver phenotype in impaired autophagy, the study compared C57BL/6J wild type (WT) and MAPK15-ERK8 knockout (KO) male mice with C57BL/6J background fed for 17 weeks with “Western-type” (WD) or standard diet (SD). Liver features were monitored in vivo by high-frequency ultrasound (HFUS) using a semi-quantitative and parametric assessment of pathological changes in the parenchyma complemented by computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) methods. Liver histology was considered the reference standard. WD induced liver steatosis in both genotypes, although KO mice showed more pronounced dietary effects than WT mice. Overall, HFUS reliably detected steatosis-related parenchymal changes over time in the two mouse genotypes examined, consistent with histology. Furthermore, this study demonstrated the feasibility of extracting quantitative features from conventional B-mode ultrasound images of the liver in murine models at early clinical stages of MASLD using a computationally efficient and vendor-independent CAD method. This approach may contribute to the non-invasive characterization of genetically engineered mouse models of MASLD according to the principles of replacement, reduction, and refinement (3Rs), with interesting translational implications.
Keywords: metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease; animal model; diet manipulation; C57Bl/6J mouse; genetically engineered mice; high frequency ultrasound imaging; computer-aided diagnosis metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease; animal model; diet manipulation; C57Bl/6J mouse; genetically engineered mice; high frequency ultrasound imaging; computer-aided diagnosis
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MDPI and ACS Style

Gargiulo, S.; Gramanzini, M.; Bonente, D.; Tamborrino, T.; Inzalaco, G.; Gherardini, L.; Franci, L.; Bertelli, E.; Barone, V.; Chiariello, M. Preclinical Application of Computer-Aided High-Frequency Ultrasound (HFUS) Imaging: A Preliminary Report on the In Vivo Characterization of Hepatic Steatosis Progression in Mouse Models. J. Imaging 2025, 11, 369. https://doi.org/10.3390/jimaging11100369

AMA Style

Gargiulo S, Gramanzini M, Bonente D, Tamborrino T, Inzalaco G, Gherardini L, Franci L, Bertelli E, Barone V, Chiariello M. Preclinical Application of Computer-Aided High-Frequency Ultrasound (HFUS) Imaging: A Preliminary Report on the In Vivo Characterization of Hepatic Steatosis Progression in Mouse Models. Journal of Imaging. 2025; 11(10):369. https://doi.org/10.3390/jimaging11100369

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gargiulo, Sara, Matteo Gramanzini, Denise Bonente, Tiziana Tamborrino, Giovanni Inzalaco, Lisa Gherardini, Lorenzo Franci, Eugenio Bertelli, Virginia Barone, and Mario Chiariello. 2025. "Preclinical Application of Computer-Aided High-Frequency Ultrasound (HFUS) Imaging: A Preliminary Report on the In Vivo Characterization of Hepatic Steatosis Progression in Mouse Models" Journal of Imaging 11, no. 10: 369. https://doi.org/10.3390/jimaging11100369

APA Style

Gargiulo, S., Gramanzini, M., Bonente, D., Tamborrino, T., Inzalaco, G., Gherardini, L., Franci, L., Bertelli, E., Barone, V., & Chiariello, M. (2025). Preclinical Application of Computer-Aided High-Frequency Ultrasound (HFUS) Imaging: A Preliminary Report on the In Vivo Characterization of Hepatic Steatosis Progression in Mouse Models. Journal of Imaging, 11(10), 369. https://doi.org/10.3390/jimaging11100369

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