Locus coeruleus degeneration is associated with disorganized functional topology in Parkinson’s disease

NeuroImage: Clinical

Ting Gao¹  Luyan Gu¹  Baorong Zhang¹  Cheng Zhou²  Xiaocao Liu²  Xiaojun Xu²  Quanquan Gu²  Peiyu Huang²  Xueqin Bai²  Minming Zhang²  Xiaojun Guan²  Min Xuan²  JingJing Wu²  Tao Guo² 

[1] Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, 310000 Hangzhou, China;Department of Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, 310000 Hangzhou, China;

关键词: Parkinson’s disease;    Locus coeruleus;    Magnetic resonance imaging;    Graph theory;    Functional networks;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Degeneration of the locus coeruleus (LC) is recognized as a critical hallmark of Parkinson's disease (PD). Recent studies have reported that noradrenaline produced from the LC has critical effects on brain functional organization. However, it is unknown if LC degeneration in PD contributes to cognitive/motor manifestations through modulating brain functional organization. This study enrolled 94 PD patients and 68 healthy controls, and LC integrity was measured using the contrast-to-noise ratio of the LC (CNRLC) calculated from T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. We used graph-theory-based network analysis to characterize brain functional organization. The relationships among LC degeneration, network disruption, and cognitive/motor manifestations in PD were assessed. Whether network disruption was a mediator between LC degeneration and cognitive/motor impairments was assessed further. In addition, an independent PD subgroup (n = 35) having functional magnetic resonance scanning before and after levodopa administration was enrolled to evaluate whether LC degeneration-related network deficiencies were independent of dopamine deficiency. We demonstrated that PD patients have significant LC degeneration compared to healthy controls. CNRLC was positively correlated with Montreal Cognitive Assessment score and the nodal efficiency (NE) of several cognitive-related regions. Lower NE of the superior temporal gyrus was a mediator between LC degeneration and cognitive impairment in PD. However, levodopa treatment could not normalize the reduced NE of the superior temporal gyrus (mediator). In conclusion, we provided evidence for the relationship between LC degeneration and extensive network disruption in PD, and highlight the role of network disorganization in LC degeneration-related cognitive impairment.

【 授权许可】

Unknown