title: Brain iron redistribution in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy: a susceptibility-weighted magnetic resonance imaging study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The roles of iron in epilepsy and its pathophysiological significance are poorly understood, especially whether iron levels are abnormal in subcortcal structures. This study aims to demonstrate whole-brain iron alterations and its clinical relevancies in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE) in vivo, using susceptibility-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (SWI).
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 62 patients with mTLE and 62 healthy controls. Brain iron concentration was quantified using SWI phase values. Voxel-wise analysis was carried out to compare iron levels between mTLE and controls, and to assess the relationship between altered iron concentration and clinical parameters in mTLE.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with mTLE showed decreases of iron levels in the subcortical structures such as substantia nigra, red nucleus, and basal ganglia. Conversely, iron levels were decreased in the cortex. Subcortical iron levels were negatively correlated to those in the cortex. Moreover, cortical and basal ganglia iron levels were related to clinical variables including epilepsy duration, age at seizures onset, and histories of precipitating factors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our SWI findings suggest a redistribution of iron between subcortical and cortical structures in mTLE. The degree of redistribution is affected by both progression of epilepsy and precipitating factors. Investigation on brain iron redistribution offers new insights into the pathogenesis of mTLE, and may be a potential biomarker for monitoring the clinical progression of epilepsy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, 305# Eastern Zhongshan Rd, Nanjing, 210002, China. zhangzq2001@126.com.
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, 305# Eastern Zhongshan Rd, Nanjing, 210002, China. weiliao.wl@gmail.com.|Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 310015, China. weiliao.wl@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Science, Leipzig, Germany. boris.bernhardt@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bernhardt
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, 305# Eastern Zhongshan Rd, Nanjing, 210002, China. fmriwangzg@126.com.
authors.forename: Zhengge
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, Nanjing, 210002, China. Tanqifu126@126.com.
authors.forename: Kangjian
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, Nanjing, 210002, China. yangfang021011@163.com.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fl, USA. yijunliu@psychiatry.ufl.edu.
authors.forename: Yijun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, 305# Eastern Zhongshan Rd, Nanjing, 210002, China. cjr.luguangming@vip.163.com.
authors.forename: Guangming
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D007501:Iron