Relationships between [¹⁸F]-THK5351 Retention and Language Functions in Primary Progressive Aphasia

Hye Jin Jeong; Cindy W Yoon; Seongho Seo; Sang Yoon Lee; Mee Kyung Suh; Ha Eun Seo; Woo Ram Kim; Hyon Lee; Jae Hyeok Heo; Yeong Bae Lee; Kee Hyung Park; Seong Hye Choi; Tatsuo Ido; Kyoung Min Lee; Young Noh

doi:10.3988/jcn.2019.15.4.527

Relationships between [¹⁸F]-THK5351 Retention and Language Functions in Primary Progressive Aphasia

J Clin Neurol. 2019 Oct;15(4):527-536. doi: 10.3988/jcn.2019.15.4.527.

Authors

Hye Jin Jeong^#¹, Cindy W Yoon^#², Seongho Seo³, Sang Yoon Lee³, Mee Kyung Suh⁴, Ha Eun Seo¹, Woo Ram Kim¹, Hyon Lee⁵, Jae Hyeok Heo⁶, Yeong Bae Lee⁵, Kee Hyung Park⁵, Seong Hye Choi², Tatsuo Ido¹, Kyoung Min Lee⁷, Young Noh^{5

8}

Affiliations

¹ Neuroscience Research Institute, Gachon University, Incheon, Korea.
² Department of Neurology, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon, Korea.
³ Department of Neuroscience, College of Medicine, Gachon University, Incheon, Korea.
⁴ Department of Neurology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
⁵ Department of Neurology, Gil Medical Center, Gachon University College of Medicine, Incheon, Korea.
⁶ Department of Neurology, Seoul Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
⁷ Department of Neurology, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
⁸ Department of Health Science and Technology, GAIHST, Gachon University, Incheon, Korea. ynoh@gachon.ac.kr.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background and purpose: There are three distinct subtypes of primary progressive aphasia (PPA): the nonfluent/agrammatic variant (nfvPPA), the semantic variant (svPPA), and the logopenic variant (lvPPA). We sought to characterize the pattern of [¹⁸F]-THK5351 retention across all three subtypes and determine the topography of [¹⁸F]-THK5351 retention correlated with each neurolinguistic score.

Methods: We enrolled 50 participants, comprising 13 PPA patients (3 nfvPPA, 5 svPPA, and 5 lvPPA) and 37 subjects with normal cognition (NC) who underwent 3.0-tesla magnetic resonance imaging, [¹⁸F]-THK5351 positron-emission tomography scans, and detailed neuropsychological tests. The PPA patients additionally participated in extensive neurolinguistic tests. Voxel-wise and region-of-interest-based analyses were performed to analyze [¹⁸F]-THK5351 retention.

Results: The nfvPPA patients exhibited higher [¹⁸F]-THK5351 retention in the the left inferior frontal and precentral gyri. In svPPA patients, [¹⁸F]-THK5351 retention was elevated in the anteroinferior and lateral temporal cortices compared to the NC group (left>right). The lvPPA patients exhibited predominant [¹⁸F]-THK5351 retention in the inferior parietal, lateral temporal, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices, and the precuneus (left>right). [¹⁸F]-THK5351 retention in the left inferior frontal area was associated with lower fluency scores. Comprehension was correlated with [¹⁸F]-THK5351 retention in the left temporal cortices. Repetition was associated with [¹⁸F]-THK5351 retention in the left inferior parietal and posterior temporal areas, while naming difficulty was correlated with retention in the left fusiform and temporal cortices.

Conclusions: The pattern of [¹⁸F]-THK5351 retention was well matched with clinical and radiological findings for each PPA subtype, in agreement with the anatomical and functional location of each language domain.

Keywords: language; neurofibrillary tangles; positron-emission tomography; primary progressive aphasia.

Abstract

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