title: Relationships between hippocampal microstructure, metabolism, and function in early Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: Abnormal microstructural integrity and glucose metabolism of the hippocampus are common in subjects with Alzheimer's disease (AD) that typically manifest as episodic memory impairment. The above-tissue alterations can be captured in vivo using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and positron emission tomography with [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG-PET). Here, we explored relationships between the above neuroimaging and cognitive markers of early AD-specific hippocampal damage. Twenty patients with early AD (MMSE 25.7 ± 1.7) were studied using DTI and FDG-PET. Episodic memory performance was assessed using the free delayed verbal recall task (DVR). In the between-modality correlation analysis, FDG uptake was strongly associated with diffusivity in the left anterior hippocampus only (r = -0.81, p < 0.05 Bonferroni's corrected for multiple tests). Performance on DVR significantly correlated with left anterior (r = -0.80, p < 0.05) and left mean (r = -0.72, p < 0.05) hippocampal diffusivity, while the correlation with left anterior FDG uptake did not reach statistical significance (r = 0.52, n.s.). DTI-derived diffusivity of the anterior hippocampus might be a sensitive early marker of hippocampal dysfunction as reflected at the synaptic and cognitive levels. This neurobiological distinction of the anterior hippocampus might be related to the disruption of the perforant pathway that is known to occur early in the course of AD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Mainz, Untere Zahlbacher Str. 8, 55131 Mainz, Germany. igor.yakushev@uni-mainz.de
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yakushev
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gerhard
authors.forename: Matthias J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lorscheider
authors.forename: Hans-Georg
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Buchholz
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Schermuly
authors.forename: Carsten
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Weibrich
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hammers
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stoeter
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schreckenberger
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fellgiebel
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D005947:Glucose