Diffusion tensor imaging techniques show that parkin gene S/N167 polymorphism is responsible for extensive brain white matter damage in patients with Parkinson's disease.

OBJECTIVE

To explore the influence of disease and genetic factors on the white matter microstructure in patients with PD. The white matter microstructural changes in the substantia nigra-striatum system were detected by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) using the region of interest (ROI) and diffusion tensor tracer (DTT) methods.

METHODS

Patients with primary Parkinson's disease (PD) without a family history of PD were selected and divided into PD-G/G and PD-G/A groups according to their parkin S/N167 polymorphism. Control groups matched for age, sex, and gene type (G/G and G/A) were also included. Three-dimensional brain volume imaging (3D-BRAVO) and DTI were performed. The microstructural changes in the substantia nigra-striatum system were evaluated by the ROI and DTT methods. The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Hoehn-Yahr (H-Y) staging, and the third part of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating (UPDRS-III) scales evaluated the cognitive and motor function impairment in patients with PD. Independent samples -test compared normally-distributed data, and the Wilcoxon rank sum test compared measurement or categorical non-normally distributed data. Multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the correlation between various DTI indicators and the MMSE, MoCA, UPDRS-III, and H-Y scores in the PD-G/G and PD-G/A groups.  < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

The white matter microstructural changes in the nigrostriatal pathway differed significantly between the PD or PD-G/A and the control group ( < 0.05)The ROI method showed that the left globus pallidus radial diffusivity (RD) value was negatively correlated with the MMSE score (r = -0.404,  = 0.040), and the left substantia nigra (LSN) fractional anisotropy (FA) value was positively correlated with the MoCA score (r = 0.405,  = 0.040) and negatively with the H-Y stage (r = -0.479,  = 0.013).The DTT method showed that the MMSE score was positively correlated with the right substantia nigra (RSN) FA value (r = 0.592,  = 0.001) and negatively with its RD value (r = -0.439,  = 0.025). The H-Y grade was negatively correlated with the number of fibers in the RSN (r = -0.406,  = 0.040). The UPDRS-Ⅲ score was positively correlated with the mean diffusivity (r = 0.420,  = 0.033) and RD (r = 0.396,  = 0.045) values of the LSN, and the AD value of the RSN (r = 0.439,  = 0.025).

CONCLUSION

The DTI technique detected extensive white matter fiber damage in patients with PD, primarily in those with the G/A genotype, that led to motor and cognitivesymptoms.