Myelin breakdown in human Huntington's disease: multi-modal evidence from diffusion MRI and quantitative magnetization transfer

Bourbon Teles, Jose, Bells, Sonja, Jones, Derek K. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4409-8049, Coulthard, Elisabeth, Rosser, Anne ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4716-4753 and Metzler-Baddeley, Claudia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8646-1144 2019. Myelin breakdown in human Huntington's disease: multi-modal evidence from diffusion MRI and quantitative magnetization transfer. Neuroscience 403 , pp. 79-92. 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2017.05.042

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Abstract

Huntington’s disease (HD) leads to white matter (WM) degeneration that may be due to an early breakdown in axon myelination but in vivo imaging correlates of demyelination remain relatively unexplored in HD compared to other neurodegenerative diseases. This study investigated HD-related effects on a putative marker of myelin, the macromolecular proton fraction (MMPF) from quantitative magnetization transfer and on fractional anisotropy, axial and radial diffusivity from diffusion tensor MR-imaging. Microstructural differences were studied in WM pathways of the basal ganglia and motor systems known to be impaired in HD: the corpus callosum, the cortico-spinal tract, the anterior thalamic radiation, fibres between prefrontal cortex and caudate and between supplementary motor area and putamen. Principal component analysis was employed for dimensionality reduction. Patients showed reductions in a component with high loadings on MMPF in all WM pathways and a trend for increases in a component loading on axial and radial diffusivities but no differences in a component loading on fractional anisotropy. Whilst patients’ performance in executive functioning was impaired, their working memory span was preserved. Inter-individual differences in the diffusivity component correlated with patients’ performance in clinical measures of the United Huntington Disease Rating Scale. In summary, HD-related reductions in MMPF suggest that myelin breakdown contributes to WM impairment in human HD and emphasise the potential of quantitative MRI metrics to inform about disease pathogenesis. Disease severity in manifest HD, however, was best captured by non-specific diffusivity metrics sensitive to multiple disease and age-related changes.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Biosciences Psychology Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC) Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute (NMHRI)
Subjects:	R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Huntington’s disease; myelin; white matter; basal ganglia; cognition; clinical markers
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0306-4522
Funders:	Wellcome Trust
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	7 June 2017
Date of Acceptance:	23 May 2017
Last Modified:	06 May 2023 03:31
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/100845

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