In vivo assessment of brainstem depigmentation in Parkinson’s: potential as severity marker for multi-centre studies
Purpose: To investigate the pattern of neuromelanin signal intensity loss within the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc), locus coeruleus, and ventral tegmental area in Parkinson disease (PD); the specific aims were (a) to study regional magnetic resonance (MR) quantifiable depigmentation in asso...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
Radiological Society of North America
2016
|
| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/39965/ |
| _version_ | 1848795955915128832 |
|---|---|
| author | Schwarz, Stefan Theodor Xing, Yue Tomar, Pragya Bajaj, Nin Auer, Dorothee P. |
| author_facet | Schwarz, Stefan Theodor Xing, Yue Tomar, Pragya Bajaj, Nin Auer, Dorothee P. |
| author_sort | Schwarz, Stefan Theodor |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Purpose:
To investigate the pattern of neuromelanin signal intensity loss within the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc), locus coeruleus, and ventral tegmental area in Parkinson disease (PD); the specific aims were (a) to study regional magnetic resonance (MR) quantifiable depigmentation in association with PD severity and (b) to investigate whether imaging- and platform-dependent signal intensity variations can be normalized.
Materials and Methods:
This prospective case-control study was approved by the local ethics committee and the research department of Nottingham University Hospitals. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants before enrollment in the study. Sixty-nine participants (39 patients with PD and 30 control subjects) were investigated with neuromelanin-sensitive MR imaging by using two different 3-T platforms and three differing protocols. Neuromelanin-related volumes of the anterior and posterior SNpc, locus coeruleus, and ventral tegmental area were determined, and normalized neuromelanin volumes were assessed for protocol-dependent effects. Diagnostic test performance of normalized neuromelanin volume was investigated by using receiver operating characteristic analyses, and correlations with the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale scores were tested.
Results:
Reduction of normalized neuromelanin volume in PD was most pronounced in the posterior SNpc (median, −83%; P < .001), followed by the anterior SNpc (−49%; P < .001) and the locus coeruleus (−37%; P < .05). Normalized neuromelanin volume loss of the posterior and whole SNpc allowed the best differentiation of patients with PD and control subjects (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.92 and 0.88, respectively). Normalized neuromelanin volume of the anterior, posterior, and whole SNpc correlated with Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale scores (r2 = 0.25, 0.22, and 0.28, respectively; all P < .05).
Conclusion:
PD-induced neuromelanin loss can be quantified across imaging protocols and platforms by using appropriate adjustment. Depigmentation in PD follows a distinct spatial pattern, affords high diagnostic accuracy, and is associated with disease severity. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:40:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-39965 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:40:19Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Radiological Society of North America |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-399652020-05-04T18:22:12Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/39965/ In vivo assessment of brainstem depigmentation in Parkinson’s: potential as severity marker for multi-centre studies Schwarz, Stefan Theodor Xing, Yue Tomar, Pragya Bajaj, Nin Auer, Dorothee P. Purpose: To investigate the pattern of neuromelanin signal intensity loss within the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc), locus coeruleus, and ventral tegmental area in Parkinson disease (PD); the specific aims were (a) to study regional magnetic resonance (MR) quantifiable depigmentation in association with PD severity and (b) to investigate whether imaging- and platform-dependent signal intensity variations can be normalized. Materials and Methods: This prospective case-control study was approved by the local ethics committee and the research department of Nottingham University Hospitals. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants before enrollment in the study. Sixty-nine participants (39 patients with PD and 30 control subjects) were investigated with neuromelanin-sensitive MR imaging by using two different 3-T platforms and three differing protocols. Neuromelanin-related volumes of the anterior and posterior SNpc, locus coeruleus, and ventral tegmental area were determined, and normalized neuromelanin volumes were assessed for protocol-dependent effects. Diagnostic test performance of normalized neuromelanin volume was investigated by using receiver operating characteristic analyses, and correlations with the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale scores were tested. Results: Reduction of normalized neuromelanin volume in PD was most pronounced in the posterior SNpc (median, −83%; P < .001), followed by the anterior SNpc (−49%; P < .001) and the locus coeruleus (−37%; P < .05). Normalized neuromelanin volume loss of the posterior and whole SNpc allowed the best differentiation of patients with PD and control subjects (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.92 and 0.88, respectively). Normalized neuromelanin volume of the anterior, posterior, and whole SNpc correlated with Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale scores (r2 = 0.25, 0.22, and 0.28, respectively; all P < .05). Conclusion: PD-induced neuromelanin loss can be quantified across imaging protocols and platforms by using appropriate adjustment. Depigmentation in PD follows a distinct spatial pattern, affords high diagnostic accuracy, and is associated with disease severity. Radiological Society of North America 2016-11-07 Article PeerReviewed Schwarz, Stefan Theodor, Xing, Yue, Tomar, Pragya, Bajaj, Nin and Auer, Dorothee P. (2016) In vivo assessment of brainstem depigmentation in Parkinson’s: potential as severity marker for multi-centre studies. Radiology . ISSN 1527-1315 http://pubs.rsna.org/doi/10.1148/radiol.2016160662 doi:10.1148/radiol.2016160662 doi:10.1148/radiol.2016160662 |
| spellingShingle | Schwarz, Stefan Theodor Xing, Yue Tomar, Pragya Bajaj, Nin Auer, Dorothee P. In vivo assessment of brainstem depigmentation in Parkinson’s: potential as severity marker for multi-centre studies |
| title | In vivo assessment of brainstem depigmentation in Parkinson’s: potential as severity marker for multi-centre studies |
| title_full | In vivo assessment of brainstem depigmentation in Parkinson’s: potential as severity marker for multi-centre studies |
| title_fullStr | In vivo assessment of brainstem depigmentation in Parkinson’s: potential as severity marker for multi-centre studies |
| title_full_unstemmed | In vivo assessment of brainstem depigmentation in Parkinson’s: potential as severity marker for multi-centre studies |
| title_short | In vivo assessment of brainstem depigmentation in Parkinson’s: potential as severity marker for multi-centre studies |
| title_sort | in vivo assessment of brainstem depigmentation in parkinson’s: potential as severity marker for multi-centre studies |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/39965/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/39965/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/39965/ |