Glymphatic system dysfunction in restless legs syndrome: evidenced by diffusion tensor imaging along the perivascular...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Radiology
• Sleep Medicine

Background:

• Glymphatic system dysfunction is linked to circadian disruption and sleep disorders.
• Impaired perivascular space diffusivity is observed in neurological and sleep-related disorders.
• The glymphatic system's role in restless legs syndrome (RLS) remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate glymphatic system functionality in RLS patients.
• To compare glymphatic function between RLS patients and healthy controls.
• To analyze the correlation between glymphatic function and RLS clinical characteristics.

Main Methods:

• Sixty-nine RLS patients and 51 healthy controls underwent 3T MRI.
• Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was used to calculate the DTI along the perivascular space (DTI-ALPS) index.
• Statistical analysis compared DTI-ALPS indices and correlated them with clinical data.

Main Results:

• The DTI-ALPS index was significantly lower in RLS patients (1.48) compared to healthy controls (0.60) (p = 0.008).
• No significant correlation was found between the DTI-ALPS index and RLS clinical characteristics (age, onset, duration, severity).

Conclusions:

• A lower DTI-ALPS index in RLS patients suggests impaired glymphatic system function.
• Glymphatic system impairment may be a contributing factor in the pathophysiology of RLS.