Faculty Collaboration Database

Comparison of T₁Rho MRI, Glucose Metabolism, and Amyloid Burden Across the Cognitive Spectrum: A Pilot Study. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 2020;32(4):352-361

Date

04/15/2020

Pubmed ID

32283991

Pubmed Central ID

PMC8717916

DOI

10.1176/appi.neuropsych.19100221

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85092313122 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   3 Citations

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The pathological cascades associated with the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD) have a common element: acidosis. T₁rho MRI is a pH-sensitive measure, with higher values associated with greater neuropathological burden. The authors investigated the relationship between T₁rho imaging and AD-associated pathologies as determined by available diagnostic imaging techniques.

METHODS: Twenty-seven participants (men, N=13, women, N=14; ages 55-90) across the cognitive spectrum (healthy control subjects [HCs] with normal cognition, N=17; participants with mild cognitive impairment [MCI], N=7; participants with mild AD, N=3) underwent neuropsychological testing, MRI (T₁-weighted and T₁rho [spin-lattice relaxation time in the rotating frame]), and positron emission tomography imaging ([¹¹C]Pittsburg compound B for amyloid burden [N=26] and [¹⁸F]fluorodeoxyglucose for cerebral glucose metabolism [N=12]). The relationships between global T₁rho values and neuropsychological, demographic, and imaging measures were explored.

RESULTS: Global mean and median T₁rho were positively associated with age. After controlling for age, higher global T₁rho was associated with poorer cognitive function, poorer memory function (immediate and delayed memory scores), higher amyloid burden, and more abnormal cerebral glucose metabolism. Regional T₁rho values, when controlling for age, significantly differed between HCs and participants with MCI or AD in select frontal, cingulate, and parietal regions.

CONCLUSIONS: Higher T₁rho values were associated with greater cognitive impairment and pathological burden. T₁rho, a biomarker that varies according to a feature common to each cascade rather than one that is unique to a particular pathology, has the potential to serve as a metric of neuropathology, theoretically providing a measure for assessing pathological status and for monitoring the neurodegeneration trajectory.

Author List

Boles Ponto LL, Magnotta VA, Menda Y, Moser DJ, Oleson JJ, Harlynn EL, DeVries SD, Wemmie JA, Schultz SK

Author

Emily L. Harlynn APP Inpatient 1 in the Neurosurgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Aging
Alzheimer Disease
Amyloid beta-Peptides
Aniline Compounds
Cognitive Dysfunction
Female
Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
Glucose
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Middle Aged
Neuroimaging
Pilot Projects
Positron-Emission Tomography
Thiazoles