Corpus callosum atrophy associated with the degree of cognitive decline in patients with Alzheimer's dementia or mild cognitive impairment: a meta-analysis of the region of interest structural imaging studies.
Individual structural neuroimaging studies of the corpus callosum (CC) in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) with the region of interest (ROI) analysis have yielded inconsistent findings. The aim of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis of structural imaging studies using ROI technique to measure the CC midsagittal area changes in patients with AD or MCI. Databases of PubMed, the Cochrane Library, the ISI Web of Science, and Science Direct from inception to June 2014 were searched with key words "corpus callosum" or "callosal", plus "Alzheimer's disease" or "mild cognitive impairment". Twenty-three studies with 603 patients with AD, 146 with MCI, and 638 healthy controls were included in this meta-analysis. Effect size was used to measure the difference between patients with AD or MCI and healthy controls. Significant callosal atrophy was found in MCI patients with an effect size of -0.36 (95% CI, -0.57 to -0.14; P = 0.001). The degree of the CC atrophy in mild AD was less severe than that in moderate AD with a mean effect size -0.69 (95% CI, -0.89 to -0.49) versus -0.92 (95% CI, -1.16 to -0.69), respectively. Comparing with healthy controls, patients with MCI had atrophy in the anterior portion of the CC (i.e., rostrum and genu). In contrast, patients with AD had atrophy in both anterior and posterior portions (i.e., splenium). These results suggest that callosal atrophy may be related to the degree of cognitive decline in patients with MCI and AD, and it may be used as a biomarker for patients with cognitive deficit even before meeting the criteria for AD.
Departments of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, PR China.
Xu-Dong
XD
Wang
Departments of Neurology, The Affiliated Hospital of Weifang Medical University, Weifang, Shandon Province, PR China.
Ming
M
Ren
Departments of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, PR China.
Min-Wei
MW
Zhu
Bio-X Center, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, PR China.
Wen-Peng
WP
Gao
Department of Neurology, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, PR China.
Jun
J
Zhang
Departments of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, PR China.
Hong
H
Shen
Departments of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, PR China.
Zhi-Guo
ZG
Lin
Departments of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, PR China. Electronic address: fenghonglin5678@sina.com.
Hong-Lin
HL
Feng
Department of Nuclear Medicine, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, PR China. Electronic address: changjiu-zhao@163.com.
Chang-Jiu
CJ
Zhao
Mood and Anxiety Clinic in the Mood Disorder Program, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, USA.
Keming
K
Gao
D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000150:complications*; D001284:Atrophy / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000150:complications*; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D059906:Neuroimaging
Alzheimer's disease; Corpus callosum; Magnetic resonance imaging; Meta-analysis; Mild cognitive impairment