New AI body map reveals obesity’s hidden attack on facial nerves

Researchers from Helmholtz Munich, Ludwig Maximilians University Munich (LMU), and collaborators developed an AI platform called MouseMapper that can map disease-related changes throughout a mouse body at the cellular level.
The platform identified widespread inflammation and previously unknown nerve damage linked to obesity in mice.
The study found similar molecular patterns in human tissue, suggesting human obesity may result in similar nerve damage.
Researchers used transparent mice and whole-body imaging to gather detailed 3D images of entire mice, allowing them to analyze tissues without dissection.
MouseMapper automatically identified and segmented 31 tissue types, providing insights into how diseases affect multiple organ systems simultaneously.
The study uncovered structural and molecular changes in a major facial nerve, the trigeminal nerve, in both obese mice and human tissues.
MouseMapper could become a crucial tool for studying complex diseases that affect multiple organ systems, including diabetes, cancer, and neurodegenerative disorders.
The team aims to create digital twins of mice in health and disease, contributing to the discovery of new treatments and reducing the number of physical experiments required.