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Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Analysis of Neurodegenerative Diseases
Published on: July 28, 2013
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Thalamic energy dysfunction is associated with thalamo-cortical tract damage in multiple sclerosis: A diffusion
Vito Ag Ricigliano1, Matteo Tonietto2, Raffaele Palladino3
1Sorbonne University, Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Pitié Salpêtrière Hospital, Inserm UMR S 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Paris, France.
Multiple Sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England)
|February 10, 2021
Summary
Reduced creatine-phosphocreatine brain diffusivity in the thalamus (ADC(tCr)) is linked to thalamo-cortical tract damage in multiple sclerosis (MS). This finding suggests a connection between energy metabolism dysfunction and fiber degeneration in MS patients.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Neuroscience
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Diffusion-weighted 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (DW-MRS) quantifies creatine-phosphocreatine brain diffusivity (ADC(tCr)).
- Reduced ADC(tCr) in multiple sclerosis (MS) is a potential indicator of energy dysfunction.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if thalamic ADC(tCr) changes correlate with thalamo-cortical tract damage in MS patients.
- To investigate the relationship between brain energy metabolism and white matter integrity in MS.
Main Methods:
- Twenty MS patients and 13 healthy controls (HC) underwent DW-MRS and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI).
- Thalamic ADC(tCr) and ADC(tNAA) were measured using DW-MRS.
- Microstructural integrity of thalamo-cortical tracts was assessed using DWI-derived metrics (FA, MD, AD, RD).
- Linear regression models were used to analyze associations between thalamic ADC(tCr) and tract metrics, adjusting for relevant covariates.
Main Results:
- Lower thalamic ADC(tCr) was significantly associated with higher mean diffusivity (MD) and radial diffusivity (RD) in thalamo-cortical tracts in MS patients.
- These associations were not observed in healthy controls, with significant interaction terms between ADC(tCr) and group for MD and RD.
- Thalamic ADC(tCr) showed no association with the microstructural integrity of a non-thalamic control tract.
Conclusions:
- Reduced thalamic ADC(tCr) correlates with thalamo-cortical tract damage in MS.
- This suggests that impaired thalamic energy metabolism is linked to structural degeneration of connected white matter fibers in MS.
