Comparison of brain microstructure alterations on diffusion kurtosis imaging among Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment, and cognitively normal individuals

• Published in: Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience Vol. 14; p. 919143
• Main Authors: Chu, Xiaoqi, Wu, Peng, Yan, Hongting, Chen, Xuejing, Fan, Liting, Wu, Zheng, Tao, Chunmei, Ma, Yue, Fu, Yu, Guo, Yunchu, Dong, Yang, Yang, Chao, Ge, Yusong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lausanne Frontiers Media SA 12.08.2022; Frontiers Research Foundation; Frontiers Media S.A
• Subjects: Alzheimer's disease; Atrophy; Biomarkers; brain microstructure alterations; Cognitive ability; Comparative analysis; Contraindications; Cortex (parietal); Dementia; Diffusion; diffusion kurtosis imaging; Hippocampus; Kurtosis; Magnetic resonance imaging; mild cognitive impairment; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neuroimaging; neuropsychological test; Neuropsychology; Neuroscience; Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry; Patients; RC321-571; Temporal lobe; United States > US
• ISSN: 1663-4365; 1663-4365
• DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.919143

Objective: Our study aimed to explore the differences in brain microstructure in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), as well as in individuals with normal cognition using diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) to identify a potential non-invasive biomarker of AD. Methods: A total of 61 subjects were included in our study, including 20 subjects diagnosed with AD, 21 patients diagnosed with amnestic MCI, and 20 cognitively normal individuals. We acquired magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, and DKI images were processed. 12 regions of interest were drawn, and various parameters were measured and analyzed using SPSS version 11.0 software. Results: Comparative analysis showed that differences in brain regions in terms of mean diffusion (MD) and mean kurtosis (MK) between groups were the most marked. Precuneus MD, temporal MK, precuneus MK, and hippocampal MK were significantly correlated with neuropsychological test scores. Hippocampal MK showed the strongest correlation with the medial temporal lobe atrophy score (r = −0.510), and precuneus MD had the strongest correlation with the Koedam score (r = 0.463). The receiver operating curve analysis revealed that hippocampal MK exhibited better diagnostic efficacy than precuneus MD for comparisons between any group pair. Conclusion: DKI is capable of detecting differences in brain microstructure between patients with AD, patients with MCI, and cognitively normal individuals. Moreover, it compensates for the deficiencies of conventional MRI in detecting pathological changes in microstructure before the appearance of macroscopic atrophy. Hippocampus MK was the most sensitive single parameter map for differentiating AD patients, MCI patients, and cognitively normal individuals.