Neural Regeneration Research ›› 2013, Vol. 8 ›› Issue (27): 2557-2565.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.27.007

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Magnetic resonance morphometry of the loss of gray matter volume in Parkinson’s disease patients

Jianguo Xia1, Juan Wang2, Weizhong Tian1, Hongbin Ding1, Qilin Wei3, Huanxin Huang3, Jun Wang3, Jinli Zhao4, Hongmei Gu4, Lemin Tang2   

  1. 1 Department of Radiology, Taizhou People’s Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong 225300, Jiangsu Province, China

    2 Department of Medical Image Engineering, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong 226001, Jiangsu Province, China

    3 Department of Geriatrics, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong 226001, Jiangsu Province, China

    4 Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong 226001, Jiangsu Province, China
  • Received:2013-03-06 Revised:2013-03-06 Online:2013-09-25 Published:2013-09-25
  • Contact: Lemin Tang, Master, Professor, Department of Medical Image Engineering, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong 226001, Jiangsu Province, China, lemint50@ntu.edu.cn.
  • About author:Jianguo Xia, Master, Attending physician. Jianguo Xia and Juan Wang contributed equally to this work.
  • Supported by:

    This work was supported by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, the Medical Clinical Science and Technology Developemnt Fund of Jiangsu University, No. JLY20120122; Innovative Climb Program of Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, No. BK2008010; and the Natural Science Foundation of Nantong University, No.11Z001

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Abstract:

Voxel-based morphometry can be used to quantitatively compare structural differences and func-tional changes of gray matter in subjects. In the present study, we compared gray matter images of 32 patients with Parkinson’s disease and 25 healthy controls using voxel-based morphometry based on 3.0 T high-field magnetic resonance T1-weighted imaging and clinical neurological scale scores. Results showed that the scores in Mini-Mental State Examination and Montreal Cognitive Assessment were lower in patients compared with controls. In particular, the scores of visuospatial/executive function items in Montreal Cognitive Assessment were significantly reduced, but mean scores of non-motor symptoms significantly increased, in patients with Parkinson’s dis-ease. In addition, gray matter volume was significantly diminished in Parkinson’s disease patients compared with normal controls, including bilateral temporal lobe, bilateral occipital lobe, bilateral parietal lobe, bilateral frontal lobe, bilateral insular lobe, bilateral parahippocampal gyrus, bilateral amygdale, right uncus, and right posterior lobe of the cerebellum. These findings indicate that voxel-based morphometry can accurately and quantitatively assess the loss of gray matter volume in patients with Parkinson's disease, and provide essential neuroimaging evidence for multisystem pathological mechanisms involved in Parkinson’s disease.

Key words: neural regeneration, neuroimaging, neurodegeneration, voxel-based morphometry, Parkinson’s disease, MRI, dopamine, non-motor symptoms, gray matter abnormality, region of interest, Mini-Mental State Examination, Montreal Cognitive Assessment, neurodegenerative disease, grants-supported paper, neuroregeneration