Howard Florey Institute, Florey Neuroscience Institutes, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Brain Imaging Behav. 2011 Sep;5(3):171-80. doi: 10.1007/s11682-011-9121-8.
White matter (WM) degeneration is an important feature of Huntington's disease (HD) neuropathology. To investigate WM degeneration we used Diffusion Tensor Imaging and Tract-Based Spatial Statistics to compare Fractional Anisotropy, Mean Diffusivity (MD), parallel diffusivity and perpendicular diffusivity (λ⊥) in WM throughout the whole brain in 17 clinically diagnosed HD patients and 16 matched controls. Significant WM diffusivity abnormalities were identified primarily in the corpus callosum (CC) and external/extreme capsules in HD patients compared to controls. Significant correlations were observed between motor symptoms and MD in the CC body, and between global cognitive impairment and λ⊥ in the CC genu. Probabilistic tractography from these regions revealed degeneration of functionally relevant interhemispheric WM tracts. Our findings suggest that WM degeneration within interhemispheric pathways plays an important role in the deterioration of cognitive and motor function in HD patients, and that improved understanding of WM pathology early in the disease is required.
脑白质（WM）退变是亨廷顿病（HD）神经病理学的一个重要特征。为了研究 WM 退变，我们使用弥散张量成像和基于束流的空间统计学方法，比较了 17 例临床诊断的 HD 患者和 16 名匹配对照者全脑 WM 的各向异性分数（FA）、平均弥散度（MD）、平行弥散度和垂直弥散度（λ⊥）。与对照组相比，HD 患者的 WM 弥散度异常主要出现在胼胝体（CC）和外囊/极外囊。在 CC 体部，运动症状与 MD 之间存在显著相关性，在 CC 膝部，整体认知障碍与 λ⊥之间存在显著相关性。从这些区域进行概率性束流追踪，揭示了功能相关的大脑两半球 WM 束的退变。我们的研究结果表明，大脑两半球通路内的 WM 退变在 HD 患者认知和运动功能恶化中起着重要作用，需要早期了解 WM 病理学。
