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Updated: Sep 2, 2025
Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Analysis of Neurodegenerative Diseases
Published on: July 28, 2013
Evaluating white matter alterations in Parkinson's disease-related parkin S/N167 mutation carriers using tract-based
Jinqiu Yu1,2,3,4, Lina Chen1,3,4, Guoen Cai1,3,4
1Department of Neurology, Fujian Institute of Geriatrics, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, China.
Background:
Genetic susceptibility plays an important role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). parkin S/N167 mutations may increase the risk of PD and affect white matter fibers in the brain. This cross-sectional study explored the effects of gene polymorphisms on white matter fiber damage in PD.
Methods:
In all, 54 cases were enrolled in the study, including PD patients carrying parkin gene S/N167 mutations (G/A), PD patients without gene S/N167 mutations (G/G), and healthy controls (HC). The whole-brain white matter fiber skeleton was analyzed using the tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) method. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post hoc tests were used for data analyses.
Results:
Two classification methods were used; one was based on disease classification, with 26 patients in the PD group (n=12 G/G, n=14 G/A) and 28 in the HC group (n=15 G/G, n=13 G/A), and the other was based on genetic classification, with 27 patients in the G/G group and 27 in the G/A group. In the G/A group, there was a wide range of significant changes in fractional anisotropy (FA), radial diffusivity (RD), and mean diffusivity (MD) values (P<0.05). There was also a significant decrease in FA in the PD-G/A group compared with the PD-G/G and HC-G/A groups (P<0.05).
Conclusions:
There were more extensive brain white matter fiber damage and changes in PD patients; the G/A polymorphism may cause more extensive brain white matter damage.
