[Difference in Brain Age Between Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment].

Objective To investigate the brain age differences between Alzheimer's disease(AD)and mild cognitive impairment(MCI)patients,and further explore the correlations between brain age gap(BAG)and clinical features.Methods The clinical data and radiologic findings of 132 probable AD and AD-derived MCI patients diagnosed at Beijing Tiantan Hospital,Capital Medical University from December 2018 to July 2021 were retrospectively analyzed.According to the diagnostic criteria for AD and MCI,the patients were assigned into AD and MCI groups.In addition,156 volunteers without neurological diseases and other severe diseases were recruited as the control group.The general data,Montreal cognitive assessment(MoCA)score,and mini-mental state examination(MMSE)score were compared among the three groups.The deep learning-based brain age prediction model was employed to calculate the BAGs of the three groups.Spearman correlation analysis was conducted to explore the correlations between BAG and clinical features.Results The 132 patients included 106 patients in the AD group and 26 patients in the MCI group.The MoCA and MMSE scores followed an ascending trend of AD group

Independent and reproducible hippocampal radiomics biomarkers for multisite multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the abnormal radiomics features of the hippocampus in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) and to explore the clinical implications of these features. METHODS: 752 participants were recruited in this retrospective multicenter study (7 centers), which included 236 MS, 236 NMOSD, and 280 normal controls (NC). Radiomics features of each side of the hippocampus were extracted, including intensity, shape, texture, and wavelet features (N = 431). To identify the variations in these features, two-sample t-tests were performed between the NMOSD vs. NC, MS vs. NC, and NMOSD vs. MS groups at each site. The statistical results from each site were then integrated through meta-analysis. To investigate the clinical significance of the hippocampal radiomics features, we conducted further analysis to examine the correlations between these features and clinical measures such as Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), Brief Visuospatial Memory Test (BVMT), California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT), and Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT). RESULTS: Compared with NC, patients with MS exhibited significant differences in 78 radiomics features (P < 0.05/862), with the majority of these being texture features. Patients with NMOSD showed significant differences in 137 radiomics features (P < 0.05/862), most of which were intensity features. The difference between MS and NMOSD patients was observed in 47 radiomics features (P < 0.05/862), mainly texture features. In patients with MS and NMOSD, the most significant features related to the EDSS were intensity and textural features, and the most significant features related to the PASAT were intensity features. Meanwhile, both disease groups observed a weak correlation between radiomics data and BVMT. CONCLUSION: Variations in the microstructure of the hippocampus can be detected through radiomics, offering a new approach to investigating the abnormal pattern of the hippocampus in MS and NMOSD.

Characteristic cerebral perfusion pattern in neuronal intranuclear inclusion disease.

Background: Neuronal intranuclear inclusion disease (NIID), which pathogenesis remains largely unclear, is a neurodegenerative disease caused by GGC repeat expansion in NOTCH2NLC gene. As case studies have reported dynamic cortical perfusion changes in NIID, this study aimed to explore the cerebral perfusion pattern in NIID patients. Materials and methods: A total of 38 NIID patients and 34 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited, and 2 NIID patients who had had episodic symptoms within 2 months were excluded. Data on demographic characteristics and clinical features were collected. All participants underwent three-dimensional pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling perfusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning. Voxel-based comparisons of cerebral blood flow (CBF) were conducted. Results: NIID patients showed decreased perfusion in the cortex but increased perfusion in the deep brain regions compared with HCs. The regions with significant hypoperfusion were distributed in the bilateral frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital gyri, with the left frontal gyrus being the most prominent. The regions with significant hyperperfusion included the bilateral basal ganglia, midbrain, pons, para-hippocampal, and parts of the bilateral cerebellum, fusiform, lingual, rectus, orbital, and cingulum anterior gyri, which were adjacent to the midline (all FDR-corrected p <0.05). When comparing the mean CBF value of the whole brain, no significant differences were observed between NIID patients and HCs (28.81 ± 10.1 vs. 27.99 ± 5.68 ml/100 g*min, p = 0.666). Voxel-based analysis showed no significant difference in cerebral perfusion between NIID patients with and without episodic symptoms. The perfusion within the bilateral middle frontal and anterior cingulate gyri showed positive correlations with MMSE and MoCA scores using age, sex, and education as covariates (p <0.005 uncorrected). Conclusion: NIID patients exhibited characteristic cortical hypoperfusion and deep brain hyperperfusion. The perfusion in the bilateral frontal lobe and cingulate gyrus was correlated with the severity of cognitive dysfunction. Cerebral perfusion change may be involved in NIID pathophysiology and serve as a potential indicator for monitoring NIID severity and progression.

[The clinical and magnetic resonance imaging studies of brain damages in neuromyelitis optica].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the feature brain damage and clinical manifestations in neuromyelitis optica (NMO) patients; To investigate the relationship between serum NMO-IgG antibody and NMO brain damage. METHODS: Clinical data of 37 NMO patients and their head and spinal cord MRI by 1.5T superconducting MR scanner, were analyzed; serum NMO-IgG antibody were measured by immunofluorescence. RESULTS: 17 cases were found to have abnormal signals on MRI, which were mainly in the white matter, pons, medulla, ventricle, aqueduct, and around the corpus callosum; According to pathological changes, brain damage can be divided into scattered irregularity (13 cases), fusion (3 cases), multiple sclerosis-like (1 case), with scattered irregularity more common, 5 cases had clinical manifestations of brain damage: somnolence, vomiting, diplopia, visual rotation, 11 cases patients with brainstem damage show positive serum NMO-IgG antibodies. CONCLUSIONS: Brain damage can be seen in half of NMO patients, they often located in the high expression area of AQP4: brain white matter, periventricular, brainstem and so on. Clinical symptoms has nothing to do with the size of lesions but the location, they often occur when brainstem was involved. Serum NMO-IgG is helpful in differentiating NMO with brain damage and MS.