Thomann Philipp A, Dos Santos Vasco, Toro Pablo, Schönknecht Peter, Essig Marco, Schröder Johannes
Section of Geriatric Psychiatry, University of Heidelberg, Vossstr. 4, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany. philipp
Neurobiol Aging. 2009 May;30(5):838-41. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2007.08.001. Epub 2007 Sep 17.
Olfactory dysfunction has been reported to occur already in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and to increase with disease severity. In neuropathological research, the deposition of neurofibrillary tangles and neuritic plaques in the olfactory bulb and tract (OBT) of AD patients has been consistently demonstrated. We used high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to determine the volume of the OBT in 21 patients with early AD and in 21 healthy comparison subjects. The OBT was manually traced on consecutive coronal slices. When compared to healthy controls, right, left and mean OBT volumes were significantly reduced in patients with AD (p<0.01). In AD patients, the mean OBT volume was significantly correlated with global cognitive performance as determined by the mini-mental state examination (r=0.605; p=0.004). Manual tracing on MRI images revealed OBT atrophy to be present early in the course of AD. Since the respective findings were associated with cognitive impairment, they may contribute to early recognition and diagnosis of the disease.
据报道，嗅觉功能障碍在阿尔茨海默病（AD）的早期阶段就已出现，并随着疾病严重程度的增加而加重。在神经病理学研究中，AD患者嗅球和嗅束（OBT）中神经原纤维缠结和神经炎性斑块的沉积已得到一致证实。我们使用高分辨率磁共振成像（MRI）来测定21例早期AD患者和21名健康对照者的OBT体积。在连续的冠状切片上手动描绘OBT。与健康对照组相比，AD患者的右侧、左侧和平均OBT体积均显著减小（p<0.01）。在AD患者中，平均OBT体积与通过简易精神状态检查测定的整体认知表现显著相关（r=0.605；p=0.004）。对MRI图像进行手动描绘显示，OBT萎缩在AD病程早期就已存在。由于相应的发现与认知障碍有关，它们可能有助于该疾病的早期识别和诊断。
