An exploratory study on the spatial relationship between regional cortical volume changes and white matter integrity...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Neurology
• Radiology

Background:

• Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic CNS disorder with inflammatory and neurodegenerative aspects.
• Historically viewed as a white matter (WM) disease, gray matter (GM) pathology is gaining research focus.
• Understanding the interplay between GM and WM changes in MS is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the spatial relationship between cortical volume reduction and white matter (WM) tract integrity in multiple sclerosis (MS).
• To explore potential regional dependencies between gray matter (GM) and WM alterations in MS patients.

Main Methods:

• Utilized voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to identify areas of decreased cortical volume.
• Employed lesion probability maps (LPM) and probabilistic tractography on 3 Tesla MRI scans.
• Compared 15 low-disability MS patients with 15 matched healthy controls (HCs).

Main Results:

• Reduced cortical volume was observed in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and left lateral occipital cortex (LOC) of MS patients.
• Tractography from IFG seeds indicated impaired frontal lobe connections in MS patients.
• Tractography from LOC seeds revealed disintegrated left inferior longitudinal and fronto-occipital pathways in MS patients, partly due to WM lesions.

Conclusions:

• Findings suggest a regional relationship between cortical GM and WM tract alterations in multiple sclerosis (MS).
• Combined MRI methods (VBM, LPM, probabilistic tractography) offer insights into interacting GM and WM changes in MS.
• Further validation in larger, diverse MS populations is warranted.