Microstructural mapping of dentate gyrus pathology in Alzheimer's disease: A 16.4 Tesla MRI study

Nien-Chu Shih; Nyoman D Kurniawan; Ryan P Cabeen; Laura Korobkova; Ellen Wong; Helena C Chui; Kristi A Clark; Carol A Miller; Debra Hawes; Kymry T Jones; Farshid Sepehrband

doi:10.1016/j.nicl.2023.103318

Microstructural mapping of dentate gyrus pathology in Alzheimer's disease: A 16.4 Tesla MRI study

Neuroimage Clin. 2023:37:103318. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2023.103318. Epub 2023 Jan 5.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ USC Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA.
² Center for Advanced Imaging, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia.
³ Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089. USA.
⁴ Department of Neurology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA; Department of Neurology, Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, Downey, CA 90242, USA.
⁵ Department of Neurology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA.
⁶ Department of Pathology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA.
⁷ Department of Pathology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA.
⁸ Department of Pathology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA. Electronic address: KTJONE8@emory.edu.
⁹ USC Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA. Electronic address: Farshid.sepehrband@loni.usc.edu.

Abstract

The dentate gyrus (DG) is an integral portion of the hippocampal formation, and it is composed of three layers. Quantitative magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has the capability to map brain tissue microstructural properties which can be exploited to investigate neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, assessing subtle pathological changes within layers requires high resolution imaging and histological validation. In this study, we utilized a 16.4 Tesla scanner to acquire ex vivo multi-parameter quantitative MRI measures in human specimens across the layers of the DG. Using quantitative diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and multi-parameter MR measurements acquired from AD (N = 4) and cognitively normal control (N = 6) tissues, we performed correlation analyses with histological measurements. Here, we found that quantitative MRI measures were significantly correlated with neurofilament and phosphorylated Tau density, suggesting sensitivity to layer-specific changes in the DG of AD tissues.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Dentate gyrus; Diffusion; Histology; Structural MRI.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Alzheimer Disease* / diagnostic imaging
Alzheimer Disease* / pathology
Brain / pathology
Dentate Gyrus / diagnostic imaging
Dentate Gyrus / pathology
Diffusion Tensor Imaging* / methods
Hippocampus / diagnostic imaging
Hippocampus / pathology
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

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