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Quantitative T1 is sensitive to cortical remyelination in multiple sclerosis: A postmortem MRI study.
Riccardo Galbusera1,2,3, Matthias Weigel1,2,3,4, Erik Bahn5
1Translational Imaging in Neurology (ThINk) Basel, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Basel and University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Quantitative MRI detects changes in demyelinated and remyelinated brain lesions in multiple sclerosis. Quantitative T1 (qT1) shows alterations in demyelinated areas but not remyelinated ones, suggesting its potential as a biomarker for cortical remyelination.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Neuropathology
- Multiple Sclerosis Research
Background:
- Cortical lesions in multiple sclerosis (MS) exhibit significant remyelination.
- Assessing the efficacy of remyelination in MS requires sensitive detection methods.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate postmortem quantitative MRI (qMRI) techniques for detecting cortical demyelination and remyelination in multiple sclerosis.
- To identify potential qMRI biomarkers for cortical remyelination.
Main Methods:
- Six fixed whole brains from deceased individuals with MS were imaged using 3T-MRI.
- Quantitative MRI techniques included Magnetization Transfer Ratio (MTR), Myelin Water Fraction (MWF), quantitative T1 (qT1), Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping (QSM), and Radial Diffusivity (RD).
- Immunohistochemistry was used to identify demyelinated (DM), remyelinated (RM), and normal-appearing cortex (NAC) areas.
Main Results:
- qT1 and RD were elevated, while QSM was reduced in DM compared to NAC.
- RD was elevated and QSM reduced in RM compared to NAC; qT1 did not differ significantly between RM and NAC.
- MWF and MTR showed no significant differences between DM and RM.
- qT1 demonstrated partial recovery in RM areas compared to DM areas.
- qT1 and QSM correlated with myelin basic protein intensity.
Conclusions:
- Quantitative T1 (qT1) is altered in demyelinated cortical areas but not in remyelinated areas.
- Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping (QSM) and Radial Diffusivity (RD) are sensitive to general cortical abnormalities.
- qT1 shows promise as an imaging biomarker for detecting cortical remyelination in multiple sclerosis.
