title: Cerebral metabolic changes related to clinical parameters in idiopathic anosmic patients during olfactory stimulation: a pilot investigation.
abstract: Idiopathic olfactory loss neural consequences have been studied especially by means of magnetic resonance imaging. Since other functional neuroimaging technique findings are lacking in the literature, present study used a validated18F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) functional positron emission tomography procedure under olfactory stimulation (OS) to assess brain changes in idiopathic anosmic patients (IAPs) in comparison with healthy subjects (HS). A voxel-based analysis between these groups was used to evaluate FDG uptake in the brain and perform a correlation analysis between metabolic responses and the Sniffin' stick test as well as intensity visuo-analogue scores and disease duration (DD). A significant relative decrease of glucose metabolism in the right and left frontal lobes, left insula, right parietal lobe, and left occipital, temporal and parietal lobes was found in IAPs during OS. The same condition resulted in a relative higher glucose metabolism in the right cerebellum in IAPs. Moreover, a negative correlation between DD and FDG uptake in the left temporo-parietal joint was found in IAPs. Such a correlation suggested a possible involvement of this area metabolic decrease in self-consciousness impairment, which is known to affect IAPs. Present preliminary functional results could be of interest to further deepen such neural impairments possibly useful for future perspective in pharmaceutical and rehabilitative protocols.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences and Translational Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier, 1, 6° floor, E Sud Tower, 00133, Rome, Italy.|Neuroscience Unit, Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Micarelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Agostino
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chiaravalloti
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Danieli
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.|IRCCS Neuromed, Pozzilli, Italy.
authors.forename: Orazio
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Schillaci
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences and Translational Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier, 1, 6° floor, E Sud Tower, 00133, Rome, Italy. ldcittadino@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alessandrini
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000857:Olfaction Disorders / Q000378:metabolism*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
keywords: Brain; FDG-PET/CT; Olfactory loss; Smell