title: Gender-based analysis of cortical thickness and structural connectivity in Parkinson's disease.
abstract: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disorder and appears to have gender-specific symptoms. Studies have observed a higher frequency for development of PD in male than in female. In the current study, we evaluated the gender-based changes in cortical thickness and structural connectivity in PD patients. With informed consent, 64 PD (43 males and 21 females) patients, and 46 (12 males and 34 females) age-matched controls underwent clinical assessment including Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and magnetic resonance imaging on a 1.5 Tesla clinical MR scanner. Whole brain high-resolution T1-weighted images were acquired from all subjects and used to measure cortical thickness and structural network connectivity. No significant difference in MMSE score was observed between male and female both in control and PD subjects. Male PD patients showed significantly reduced cortical thickness in multiple brain regions including frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes as compared with those in female PD patients. The graph theory-based network analysis depicted lower connection strengths, lower clustering coefficients, and altered network hubs in PD male than in PD female. Male-specific cortical thickness changes and altered connectivity in PD patients may derive from behavioral, physiological, environmental, and genetical differences between male and female, and may have significant implications in diagnosing and treating PD among genders.
authors.affiliation: Translational Medicine Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center, P.O. Box 26999, Doha, Qatar.
authors.forename: Santosh K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Yadav
authors.affiliation: Translational Medicine Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center, P.O. Box 26999, Doha, Qatar.
authors.forename: Nagarajan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kathiresan
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Suyash
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mohan
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Physics, University College of London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Georgia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vasileiou
authors.affiliation: Center for Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Anup
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar.
authors.forename: Deepak
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kaura
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Elias R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Melhem
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Imaging, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon, India.
authors.forename: Rakesh K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Translational Medicine Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center, P.O. Box 26999, Doha, Qatar.
authors.forename: Ena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Translational Medicine Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center, P.O. Box 26999, Doha, Qatar.
authors.forename: Francesco M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Marincola
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Center for Magnetic Resonance and Optical Imaging, Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Arijitt
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Borthakur
authors.affiliation: Translational Medicine Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center, P.O. Box 26999, Doha, Qatar. mharis@sidra.org.|Department of Radiology, Center for Magnetic Resonance and Optical Imaging, Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. mharis@sidra.org.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haris
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D008875:Middle Aged; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D012727:Sex Characteristics
keywords: Brain; Cortical thickness; Magnetic resonance imaging; Parkinson’s disease; Structural network connectivity