Unraveling the link: white matter damage, gray matter atrophy and memory impairment in patients with subcortical ischemic vascular disease

IntroductionPrior MRI studies have shown that patients with subcortical ischemic vascular disease (SIVD) exhibited white matter damage, gray matter atrophy and memory impairment, but the specific characteristics and interrelationships of these abnormal changes have not been fully elucidated.Material...

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Main Authors: Jing Huang, Runtian Cheng, Xiaoshuang Liu, Li Chen, Tianyou Luo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2024-02-01
Series:Frontiers in Neuroscience
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2024.1355207/full
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author Jing Huang
Runtian Cheng
Xiaoshuang Liu
Li Chen
Tianyou Luo
author_facet Jing Huang
Runtian Cheng
Xiaoshuang Liu
Li Chen
Tianyou Luo
author_sort Jing Huang
collection DOAJ
description IntroductionPrior MRI studies have shown that patients with subcortical ischemic vascular disease (SIVD) exhibited white matter damage, gray matter atrophy and memory impairment, but the specific characteristics and interrelationships of these abnormal changes have not been fully elucidated.Materials and methodsWe collected the MRI data and memory scores from 29 SIVD patients with cognitive impairment (SIVD-CI), 29 SIVD patients with cognitive unimpaired (SIVD-CU) and 32 normal controls (NC). Subsequently, the thicknesses and volumes of the gray matter regions that are closely related to memory function were automatically assessed using FreeSurfer software. Then, the volume, fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and regional homogeneity (ReHo) values of white matter hyperintensity (WMH) region and normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) were obtained using SPM, DPARSF, and FSL software. Finally, the analysis of covariance, spearman correlation and mediation analysis were used to analyze data.ResultsCompared with NC group, patients in SIVD-CI and SIVD-CU groups showed significantly abnormal volume, FA, MD, ALFF, and ReHo values of WMH region and NAWM, as well as significantly decreased volume and thickness values of gray matter regions, mainly including thalamus, middle temporal gyrus and hippocampal subfields such as cornu ammonis (CA) 1. These abnormal changes were significantly correlated with decreased visual, auditory and working memory scores. Compared with the SIVD-CU group, the significant reductions of the left CA2/3, right amygdala, right parasubiculum and NAWM volumes and the significant increases of the MD values in the WMH region and NAWM were found in the SIVD-CI group. And the increased MD values were significantly related to working memory scores. Moreover, the decreased CA1 and thalamus volumes mediated the correlations between the abnormal microstructure indicators in WMH region and the decreased memory scores in the SIVD-CI group.ConclusionPatients with SIVD had structural and functional damages in both WMH and NAWM, along with specific gray matter atrophy, which were closely related to memory impairment, especially CA1 atrophy and thalamic atrophy. More importantly, the volumes of some temporomesial regions and the MD values of WMH regions and NAWM may be potentially helpful neuroimaging indicators for distinguishing between SIVD-CI and SIVD-CU patients.
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spelling doaj.art-2f6344e688f24bdea446f4c2b90503522024-02-01T04:19:58ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neuroscience1662-453X2024-02-011810.3389/fnins.2024.13552071355207Unraveling the link: white matter damage, gray matter atrophy and memory impairment in patients with subcortical ischemic vascular diseaseJing Huang0Runtian Cheng1Xiaoshuang Liu2Li Chen3Tianyou Luo4Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, ChinaDepartment of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, ChinaDepartment of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, ChinaDepartment of Radiology, The Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, ChinaDepartment of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, ChinaIntroductionPrior MRI studies have shown that patients with subcortical ischemic vascular disease (SIVD) exhibited white matter damage, gray matter atrophy and memory impairment, but the specific characteristics and interrelationships of these abnormal changes have not been fully elucidated.Materials and methodsWe collected the MRI data and memory scores from 29 SIVD patients with cognitive impairment (SIVD-CI), 29 SIVD patients with cognitive unimpaired (SIVD-CU) and 32 normal controls (NC). Subsequently, the thicknesses and volumes of the gray matter regions that are closely related to memory function were automatically assessed using FreeSurfer software. Then, the volume, fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and regional homogeneity (ReHo) values of white matter hyperintensity (WMH) region and normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) were obtained using SPM, DPARSF, and FSL software. Finally, the analysis of covariance, spearman correlation and mediation analysis were used to analyze data.ResultsCompared with NC group, patients in SIVD-CI and SIVD-CU groups showed significantly abnormal volume, FA, MD, ALFF, and ReHo values of WMH region and NAWM, as well as significantly decreased volume and thickness values of gray matter regions, mainly including thalamus, middle temporal gyrus and hippocampal subfields such as cornu ammonis (CA) 1. These abnormal changes were significantly correlated with decreased visual, auditory and working memory scores. Compared with the SIVD-CU group, the significant reductions of the left CA2/3, right amygdala, right parasubiculum and NAWM volumes and the significant increases of the MD values in the WMH region and NAWM were found in the SIVD-CI group. And the increased MD values were significantly related to working memory scores. Moreover, the decreased CA1 and thalamus volumes mediated the correlations between the abnormal microstructure indicators in WMH region and the decreased memory scores in the SIVD-CI group.ConclusionPatients with SIVD had structural and functional damages in both WMH and NAWM, along with specific gray matter atrophy, which were closely related to memory impairment, especially CA1 atrophy and thalamic atrophy. More importantly, the volumes of some temporomesial regions and the MD values of WMH regions and NAWM may be potentially helpful neuroimaging indicators for distinguishing between SIVD-CI and SIVD-CU patients.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2024.1355207/fullgray matter atrophymagnetic resonance imagingmemory impairmentnormal-appearing white mattersubcortical ischemic vascular diseasewhite matter hyperintensity
spellingShingle Jing Huang
Runtian Cheng
Xiaoshuang Liu
Li Chen
Tianyou Luo
Unraveling the link: white matter damage, gray matter atrophy and memory impairment in patients with subcortical ischemic vascular disease
Frontiers in Neuroscience
gray matter atrophy
magnetic resonance imaging
memory impairment
normal-appearing white matter
subcortical ischemic vascular disease
white matter hyperintensity
title Unraveling the link: white matter damage, gray matter atrophy and memory impairment in patients with subcortical ischemic vascular disease
title_full Unraveling the link: white matter damage, gray matter atrophy and memory impairment in patients with subcortical ischemic vascular disease
title_fullStr Unraveling the link: white matter damage, gray matter atrophy and memory impairment in patients with subcortical ischemic vascular disease
title_full_unstemmed Unraveling the link: white matter damage, gray matter atrophy and memory impairment in patients with subcortical ischemic vascular disease
title_short Unraveling the link: white matter damage, gray matter atrophy and memory impairment in patients with subcortical ischemic vascular disease
title_sort unraveling the link white matter damage gray matter atrophy and memory impairment in patients with subcortical ischemic vascular disease
topic gray matter atrophy
magnetic resonance imaging
memory impairment
normal-appearing white matter
subcortical ischemic vascular disease
white matter hyperintensity
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2024.1355207/full
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