Emmenegger Tim M, Seiler Raoul, Unschuld Paul G, Freund Patrick, Klohs Jan
Spinal Cord Injury Center, Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, Forchstrasse 340, 8008, Zurich, Switzerland.
Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 27, 8093, Zurich, Switzerland.
Sci Rep. 2024 Sep 16;14(1):21595. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-67389-9.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by progressive episodic memory dysfunction. A prominent hallmark of AD is gradual brain atrophy. Despite extensive research on brain pathology, the understanding of spinal cord pathology in AD and its association with cognitive decline remains understudied. We analyzed serial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans from the ADNI data repository to assess whether progressive cord atrophy is associated with clinical worsening. Cervical cord morphometry was measured in 45 patients and 49 cognitively normal controls (CN) at two time points over 1.5 years. Regression analysis examined associations between cord atrophy rate and cognitive worsening. Cognitive and functional activity performance declined in patients during follow-up. Compared with controls, patients showed a greater rate of decline of the anterior-posterior width of the cross-sectional cord area per month (- 0.12%, p = 0.036). Worsening in the mini-mental state examination (MMSE), clinical dementia rating (CDR), and functional assessment questionnaire (FAQ) was associated with faster rates of cord atrophy (MMSE: r = 0.320, p = 0.037; CDR: r = - 0.361, p = 0.017; FAQ: r = - 0.398, p = 0.029). Progressive cord atrophy occurs in AD patients; its rate over time being associated with cognitive and functional activity decline.
阿尔茨海默病（AD）的特征是进行性发作性记忆功能障碍。AD的一个显著标志是逐渐的脑萎缩。尽管对脑病理学进行了广泛研究，但对AD脊髓病理学及其与认知衰退的关联仍研究不足。我们分析了来自ADNI数据存储库的系列磁共振成像（MRI）扫描，以评估脊髓进行性萎缩是否与临床恶化相关。在1.5年的两个时间点，对45例患者和49名认知正常对照（CN）进行了颈髓形态测量。回归分析检验了脊髓萎缩率与认知恶化之间的关联。随访期间患者的认知和功能活动表现下降。与对照组相比，患者脊髓横截面积前后径每月的下降率更大（-0.12%，p = 0.036）。简易精神状态检查（MMSE）、临床痴呆评定量表（CDR）和功能评估问卷（FAQ）的恶化与脊髓萎缩速度加快相关（MMSE：r = 0.320，p = 0.037；CDR：r = -0.361，p = 0.017；FAQ：r = -0.398，p = 0.029）。AD患者会发生脊髓进行性萎缩；其随时间的变化率与认知和功能活动下降相关。
