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Pérez-Millan A, Borrego-Écija S, van Swieten JC, Jiskoot L, Moreno F, Laforce R, Graff C, Masellis M, Tartaglia MC, Rowe JB, Borroni B, Finger E, Synofzik M, Galimberti D, Vandenberghe R, de Mendonça A, Butler CR, Gerhard A, Ducharme S, Le Ber I, Santana I, Pasquier F, Levin J, Otto M, Sorbi S, Tiraboschi P, Seelaar H, Langheinrich T, Rohrer JD, Sala-Llonch R, Sánchez-Valle R. Loss of brainstem white matter predicts onset and motor neuron symptoms in C9orf72 expansion carriers: a GENFI study. J Neurol 2023; 270:1573-1586. [PMID: 36443488 DOI: 10.1007/s00415-022-11435-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2022] [Revised: 10/17/2022] [Accepted: 10/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The C9orf72 expansion is the most common genetic cause of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and/or motor neuron disease (MND). Corticospinal degeneration has been described in post-mortem neuropathological studies in these patients, especially in those with MND. We used MRI to analyze white matter (WM) volumes in presymptomatic and symptomatic C9orf72 expansion carriers and investigated whether its measure may be helpful in predicting the onset of symptoms. METHODS We studied 102 presymptomatic C9orf72 mutation carriers, 52 symptomatic carriers: 42 suffering from FTD and 11 from MND, and 75 non-carriers from the Genetic Frontotemporal dementia Initiative (GENFI). All subjects underwent T1-MRI acquisition. We used FreeSurfer to estimate the volume proportion of WM in the brainstem regions (midbrain, pons, and medulla oblongata). We calculated group differences with ANOVA tests and performed linear and non-linear regressions to assess group-by-age interactions. RESULTS A reduced WM ratio was found in all brainstem subregions in symptomatic carriers compared to both noncarriers and pre-symptomatic carriers. Within symptomatic carriers, MND patients presented a lower ratio in pons and medulla oblongata compared with FTD patients. No differences were found between presymptomatic carriers and non-carriers. Clinical severity was negatively associated with the WM ratio. C9orf72 carriers presented greater age-related WM loss than non-carriers, with MND patients showing significantly more atrophy in pons and medulla oblongata. DISCUSSION We find consistent brainstem WM loss in C9orf72 symptomatic carriers with differences related to the clinical phenotype supporting the use of brainstem measures as neuroimaging biomarkers for disease tracking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agnès Pérez-Millan
- Alzheimer's Disease and Other Cognitive Disorders Unit, Neurology Service, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi I Sunyer, University of Barcelona, Villarroel, 170, 08036, Barcelona, Spain
- Department of Biomedicine, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, 08036, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Sergi Borrego-Écija
- Alzheimer's Disease and Other Cognitive Disorders Unit, Neurology Service, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi I Sunyer, University of Barcelona, Villarroel, 170, 08036, Barcelona, Spain
| | - John C van Swieten
- Department of Neurology and Alzheimer Center Erasmus MC, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Lize Jiskoot
- Department of Neurology and Alzheimer Center Erasmus MC, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, Dementia Research Centre, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, UK
| | - Fermin Moreno
- Cognitive Disorders Unit, Department of Neurology, Donostia University Hospital, San Sebastian, Gipuzkoa, Spain
- Neuroscience Area, Biodonostia Health Research Institute, San Sebastian, Gipuzkoa, Spain
| | - Robert Laforce
- Département des Sciences Neurologiques, Clinique Interdisciplinaire de Mémoire, CHU de Québec, and Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC, Canada
| | - Caroline Graff
- Division of Neurogeriatrics, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Bioclinicum, Center for Alzheimer Research, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden
- Unit for Hereditary Dementias, Theme Aging, Karolinska University Hospital, Solna, Sweden
| | - Mario Masellis
- Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Sunnybrook Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Maria Carmela Tartaglia
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - James B Rowe
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust and Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Barbara Borroni
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, Centre for Neurodegenerative Disorders, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
| | - Elizabeth Finger
- Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
| | - Matthis Synofzik
- Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Hertie-Institute for Clinical Brain Research and Center of Neurology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Tübingen, Germany
| | - Daniela Galimberti
- Department of Biomedical, Surgical and Dental Sciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
- Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda, Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy
| | - Rik Vandenberghe
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Neurology Service, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | | | - Chris R Butler
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Medical Sciences Division, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Alexander Gerhard
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, Wolfson Molecular Imaging Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
- Department of Geriatric Medicine and Nuclear Medicine, Center for Translational Neuro- and Behavioral Sciences, University Medicine Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Simon Ducharme
- Department of Psychiatry, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Isabelle Le Ber
- Sorbonne Université, Paris Brain Institute - Institut du Cerveau - ICM, Inserm U1127, CNRS UMR 7225, AP-HP - Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière (DMU Neurosciences Paris 6), Paris, France
- Département de Neurologie, AP-HP - Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière (DMU Neurosciences Paris 6), Paris, France
| | - Isabel Santana
- Neurology Service, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital of Coimbra (HUC), University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Florence Pasquier
- Univ Lille, Lille, France
- CHU, CNR-MAJ, Labex Distalz, LiCEND, Lille, France
| | - Johannes Levin
- Neurologische Klinik und Poliklinik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, Germany
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Munich, Germany
| | - Markus Otto
- Department of Neurology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Sandro Sorbi
- Department of Neurofarba, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
| | | | - Harro Seelaar
- Department of Neurology and Alzheimer Center Erasmus MC, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Tobias Langheinrich
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, Wolfson Molecular Imaging Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Jonathan D Rohrer
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, Dementia Research Centre, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, UK
| | - Roser Sala-Llonch
- Department of Biomedicine, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, 08036, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Raquel Sánchez-Valle
- Alzheimer's Disease and Other Cognitive Disorders Unit, Neurology Service, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi I Sunyer, University of Barcelona, Villarroel, 170, 08036, Barcelona, Spain.
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Shribman S, Bocchetta M, Sudre CH, Acosta-Cabronero J, Burrows M, Cook P, Thomas DL, Gillett GT, Tsochatzis EA, Bandmann O, Rohrer JD, Warner TT. Neuroimaging correlates of brain injury in Wilson's disease: a multimodal, whole-brain MRI study. Brain 2022; 145:263-275. [PMID: 34289020 PMCID: PMC8967100 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awab274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2021] [Revised: 06/25/2021] [Accepted: 07/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Wilson's disease is an autosomal-recessive disorder of copper metabolism with neurological and hepatic presentations. Chelation therapy is used to 'de-copper' patients but neurological outcomes remain unpredictable. A range of neuroimaging abnormalities have been described and may provide insights into disease mechanisms, in addition to prognostic and monitoring biomarkers. Previous quantitative MRI analyses have focused on specific sequences or regions of interest, often stratifying chronically treated patients according to persisting symptoms as opposed to initial presentation. In this cross-sectional study, we performed a combination of unbiased, whole-brain analyses on T1-weighted, fluid-attenuated inversion recovery, diffusion-weighted and susceptibility-weighted imaging data from 40 prospectively recruited patients with Wilson's disease (age range 16-68). We compared patients with neurological (n = 23) and hepatic (n = 17) presentations to determine the neuroradiological sequelae of the initial brain injury. We also subcategorized patients according to recent neurological status, classifying those with neurological presentations or deterioration in the preceding 6 months as having 'active' disease. This allowed us to compare patients with active (n = 5) and stable (n = 35) disease and identify imaging correlates for persistent neurological deficits and copper indices in chronically treated, stable patients. Using a combination of voxel-based morphometry and region-of-interest volumetric analyses, we demonstrate that grey matter volumes are lower in the basal ganglia, thalamus, brainstem, cerebellum, anterior insula and orbitofrontal cortex when comparing patients with neurological and hepatic presentations. In chronically treated, stable patients, the severity of neurological deficits correlated with grey matter volumes in similar, predominantly subcortical regions. In contrast, the severity of neurological deficits did not correlate with the volume of white matter hyperintensities, calculated using an automated lesion segmentation algorithm. Using tract-based spatial statistics, increasing neurological severity in chronically treated patients was associated with decreasing axial diffusivity in white matter tracts whereas increasing serum non-caeruloplasmin-bound ('free') copper and active disease were associated with distinct patterns of increasing mean, axial and radial diffusivity. Whole-brain quantitative susceptibility mapping identified increased iron deposition in the putamen, cingulate and medial frontal cortices of patients with neurological presentations relative to those with hepatic presentations and neurological severity was associated with iron deposition in widespread cortical regions in chronically treated patients. Our data indicate that composite measures of subcortical atrophy provide useful prognostic biomarkers, whereas abnormal mean, axial and radial diffusivity are promising monitoring biomarkers. Finally, deposition of brain iron in response to copper accumulation may directly contribute to neurodegeneration in Wilson's disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel Shribman
- Reta Lila Weston Institute, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 1PJ, UK
| | - Martina Bocchetta
- Dementia Research Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3AR, UK
| | - Carole H Sudre
- MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, University College London, London WC1E 7HB, UK
- Centre for Medical Image Computing, University College London, London WC1V 6LJ, UK
- Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London WC2R 2LS, UK
| | | | - Maggie Burrows
- Reta Lila Weston Institute, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 1PJ, UK
| | - Paul Cook
- Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK
| | - David L Thomas
- Dementia Research Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3AR, UK
- Neuroradiological Academic Unit, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3BG, UK
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3AR, UK
| | - Godfrey T Gillett
- Department of Clinical Chemistry, Northern General Hospital, Sheffield S5 7AU, UK
| | - Emmanuel A Tsochatzis
- UCL Institute of Liver and Digestive Health and Royal Free Hospital, London NW3 2PF, UK
| | - Oliver Bandmann
- Sheffield Institute of Translational Neuroscience, Sheffield S10 2HQ, UK
| | - Jonathan D Rohrer
- Dementia Research Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3AR, UK
| | - Thomas T Warner
- Reta Lila Weston Institute, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 1PJ, UK
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