The Correlation Between White Matter Hyperintensity Burden and Regional Brain Volumetry in Patients With Alzheimer's Disease

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

The Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative¹  Lei Zhao²  Yishan Luo²  Lin Shi³  Songhua Xiao⁴  Qun Yu⁴  Yuting Ruan⁴  Zhiyu Cao⁴  Yingren Mai⁴  Ming Lei⁴  Wenli Fang⁴  Jiaxin Xu⁴  Jun Liu⁵  Wang Liao⁵  Vincent C. T. Mok⁶ 

[1] ;BrainNow Research Institute, Shenzhen, China;Department of Imaging and Interventional Radiology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China;Department of Neurology, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China;Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China;Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Gerald Choa Neuroscience Centre, Lui Che Woo Institute of Innovative Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China;

关键词: Alzheimer's disease;    magnetic resonance imaging;    brain atrophy;    white matter hyperintensities;    cholinergic pathway;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fnhum.2022.760360

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundWhite matter hyperintensities (WMHs) and regional brain lobe atrophy coexist in the brain of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), but the association between them in patients with AD still lacks comprehensive investigation and solid imaging data support.ObjectiveWe explored whether WMHs can promote the pathological process of AD by aggravating atrophy in specific brain regions and tried to explain the regional specificity of these relationships.MethodsA sample of 240 adults including 180 normal controls (NCs) and 80 cases with AD were drawn from the ADNI database. T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and T2-weighted fluid-attenuated MRI of the participants were downloaded and were analyzed using AccuBrain® to generate the quantitative ratio of WMHs (WMHr, WMH volumes corrected by intracranial volume) and regional brain atrophy. We also divided WMHr into periventricular WMHr (PVWMHr) and deep WMHr (DWMHr) for the purpose of this study. The Cholinergic Pathways Hyperintensities Scale (CHIPS) scores were conducted by two evaluators. Independent t-test, Mann–Whitney U test, or χ2 test were used to compare the demographic characteristics, and Spearman correlation coefficient values were used to determine the association between WMHs and different regions of brain atrophy.ResultsPositive association between WMHr and quantitative medial temporal lobe atrophy (QMTA) (rs = 0.281, p = 0.011), temporal lobe atrophy (rs = 0.285, p = 0.011), and insular atrophy (rs = 0.406, p < 0.001) was found in the AD group before Bonferroni correction. PVWMHr contributed to these correlations. By separately analyzing the relationship between PVWMHr and brain atrophy, we found that there were still positive correlations after correction in QMTA (rs = 0.325, p = 0.003), temporal lobe atrophy (rs = 0.298, p = 0.007), and insular atrophy (rs = 0.429, p < 0.001) in AD group.ConclusionWMH severity tends to be associated with regional brain atrophy in patients with AD, especially with medial temporal lobe, temporal lobe, and insular lobe atrophy. PVWMHs were devoted to these correlations.

【 授权许可】

Unknown