The pattern of gray matter atrophy in Parkinson's disease differs in cortical and subcortical regions.
Cortical and subcortical gray matter (GM) atrophy may progress differently during the course of Parkinson's disease (PD). We delineated and compared the longitudinal pattern of these PD-related changes. Structural MRIs and clinical measures were obtained from 76 PD with different disease durations and 70 Controls at baseline, 18-, and 36 months. Both cortical and subcortical (putamen, caudate, and globus pallidus) GM volumes were obtained, compared, and associated with PD clinical measures at baseline. Their volumes and rates of change also were compared among Controls, PDs, and PD subgroups based on duration of illness [≤1 year (PD(E)), 1-5 years (PD(M)), and >5 years (PD(L))]. Compared to Controls, PD subjects displayed smaller cortical GM and striatal(putamen, caudate, ps ≤0.001), volumes at baseline. Cortical GM volumes were negatively associated with disease duration at baseline, whereas striatal volumes were not. PD subjects demonstrated accelerated volume loss in cortical GM (p = 0.006), putamen (p = 0.034), and caudate (p = 0.008) compared to Controls. Subgroup analyses demonstrated that accelerated cortical atrophy reached statistical significance in PD subjects with duration of illness 1-5 years (PD(M), ps<0.001) and the trend of accelerated atrophy seemed to persist until later stages, whereas striatal atrophy occurred in PD subjects with PD(E) (p = 0.021 for putamen, p = 0.005 for caudate) and PD(M) (p = 0.002 for putamen, p = 0.001 for caudate) that significantly slowed down in PD(L) (ps for PD(L) vs PD(E) or PD(M): <0.01). The pattern of GM loss in PD differs in cortical and subcortical regions, with striatal atrophy occurring earlier and extra-striatal cortical atrophy later.
Department of Neurology, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey PA 17033.|Department of Pharmacology, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey PA 17033.
Mechelle M
MM
Lewis
Department of Neurology, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey PA 17033.
Guangwei
G
Du
Department of Neurology, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey PA 17033.
Eun-Young
EY
Lee
Department of Neurology, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey PA 17033.
Zeinab
Z
Nasralah
Department of Neurology, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey PA 17033.
Nicholas W
NW
Sterling
Department of Neurology, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey PA 17033.
Lijun
L
Zhang
Department of Neurology, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey PA 17033.
Daymond
D
Wagner
Department of Public Health Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey PA 17033.
Lan
L
Kong
Department of Clinical Neuropsychology, The Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ 85013.
Alexander I
AI
Tröster
Department of Psychiatry, UNC, Chapel Hill, NC 27599.|Department of Computer Science, UNC, Chapel Hill, NC 27599.
Martin
M
Styner
Department of Neurology, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey PA 17033.
Paul J
PJ
Eslinger
Department of Neurology, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey PA 17033.|Department of Pharmacology, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey PA 17033.
Richard B
RB
Mailman
Department of Neurology, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey PA 17033.|Department of Pharmacology, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey PA 17033.
Xuemei
X
Huang
D000368:Aged; D001284:Atrophy / Q000473:pathology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology*; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000473:pathology*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000473:pathology*