Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Alzheimer Center Limburg, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Alzheimers Dement. 2013 Jan;9(1):93-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jalz.2011.11.004. Epub 2012 May 30.
Gray matter atrophy, an important biomarker for early Alzheimer's disease, might be due to white matter changes within gray matter.
Twenty older participants with significant memory decline over a 12-year period (T12) were matched to 20 nondeclining participants. All participants were magnetic resonance imaging scanned at T12. Cortical thickness and diffusion tensor imaging analyses were performed.
Lower cortical thickness values were associated with lower diffusion values in frontal and parietal gray matter areas. This association was only present in the memory decline group. The cortical thickness-diffusion tensor imaging correlations showed significant group differences in the posterior cingulate gyrus, precuneus, and superior frontal gyrus.
Decreased gray matter diffusivity in the posterior cingulate/precuneus area might be a disease-specific process and a potential new biomarker for early Alzheimer's disease. Future studies should validate its potential as a biomarker and focus on cellular changes underlying diffusivity changes in gray matter.
灰质萎缩是阿尔茨海默病早期的一个重要生物标志物，可能是由于灰质内的白质变化所致。
20 名在 12 年内出现明显记忆衰退的老年参与者（T12）与 20 名无衰退参与者相匹配。所有参与者在 T12 时均接受磁共振成像扫描。进行皮质厚度和弥散张量成像分析。
较低的皮质厚度值与额部和顶叶灰质区域的较低扩散值相关。这种相关性仅存在于记忆衰退组中。皮质厚度-弥散张量成像相关性显示在后扣带回、楔前叶和额上回存在显著的组间差异。
后扣带回/楔前叶区域灰质弥散度降低可能是一种具有疾病特异性的过程，是阿尔茨海默病早期的一个潜在新生物标志物。未来的研究应验证其作为生物标志物的潜力，并关注灰质弥散度变化背后的细胞变化。
