Reduced gray matter volume and respiratory dysfunction in Parkinson's disease: a voxel-based morphometry study

The respiratory dysfunction of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) has drawn increasing attention. This study evaluated the relationship between gray matter volume (GMV), as determined by voxel-based morphometry (VBM), and respiratory dysfunction in patients with PD and correlated it with systemic inflammatory markers.

Whole-brain VBM analysis was performed on 3-dimensional T1-weighted images in 25 PD patients with abnormal pulmonary function (13 men, 12 women; mean age: 62.9 ± 10.8 years) and, for comparison, on 25 sex- and age-matched PD patients with normal pulmonary function (14 men, 11 women; mean age: 62.3 ± 6.9 years). Inflammatory markers were determined by flow cytometry. The differences and correlations in regional GMV, clinical severity and inflammatory markers were determined after adjusting for age, gender and total intracranial volume (TIV).

Compared with the normal pulmonary function group, the abnormal pulmonary function group had smaller GMV in several brain regions, including the left parahippocampal formation, right fusiform gyrus, right cerebellum crus, and left postcentral gyri. Forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) and maximal expiratory flow after expiration of 50% of forced vital capacity (MEF50) were positively correlated with regional GMV. There were no significant differences in the level of serum inflammatory markers between two groups.

Our findings suggested that involvement of the central autonomic network and GM loss may underlie the respiratory dysfunction in PD patients.