title: A multimodal MRI investigation of the subventricular zone in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease patients.
abstract: The subventricular zone (SVZ) is a region that lies immediately beneath the ependymal layer on the lateral wall of the lateral ventricles, and is separated from the caudate nucleus by a layer of myelin. It contains multipotent neural stem cells. The aim of this study was to investigate the tissue around the SVZ, with the hypothesis that multimodal MRI is able to highlight the progressive disruption of tissue caused by the neurodegenerative disease in this area. We combined volumetric and diffusion tensor (DTI) imaging using a 3T imager in a cross-sectional study including 30 patients with amnestic-mild cognitive impairment (a-MCI), 30 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 30 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HC). Our data indicate that mean diffusivity (MD) values increase continuously from HC through a-MCI to AD in the bilateral SVZ, where most of the proliferating stem cells in the adult brain are located. This result was specific for the SVZ and could not be observed in other periventricular areas. Multimodal MRI, being able to highlight structural changes of microscopic tissue in humans in vivo, could represent a precious tool to complement histological studies of neurogenesis.
authors: Department of Clinical and Behavioral Neurology, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy.
authors: Andrea
authors: A
authors: Cherubini
authors: Ilaria
authors: I
authors: Spoletini
authors: Patrice
authors: P
authors: Péran
authors: Giacomo
authors: G
authors: Luccichenti
authors: Margherita
authors: M
authors: Di Paola
authors: Giuseppe
authors: G
authors: Sancesario
authors: Walter
authors: W
authors: Gianni
authors: Franco
authors: F
authors: Giubilei
authors: Paola
authors: P
authors: Bossù
authors: Umberto
authors: U
authors: Sabatini
authors: Carlo
authors: C
authors: Caltagirone
authors: Gianfranco
authors: G
authors: Spalletta
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000473:pathology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000473:pathology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D055153:Stem Cell Niche / Q000473:pathology*