MR-ALTERATIONS OF LOCUS COERULEUS IN NEURODEGENERATIVE DEMENTIAS

 

Liaskovik A.A., Konovalov R.N., Shpilyukova Yu.A., Nevzorova K.V., Moskalenko A.N.,

Fedotova E.Yu., Krotenkova M.V.

 

Research Center of Neurology (RCN). Moscow, Russia.

P

urpose. To investigate the contrast ratio of the locus coeruleus (LC) in neurodegenerative diseases with noradrenergic dysfunction and to evaluate the correlations of the obtained results with the grade of cognitive impairment.

Materials and methods. There were 90 participants in our study: 23 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) in the stage of mild cognitive impairment and dementia, 13 patients with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) in the stage of mild cognitive impairment and dementia; 23 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) with no cognitive impairment and 21 healthy controls without cognitive pathology. All patients underwent MRI of the brain with a neuromelanin-sensitive sequence, followed by calculation of the LC contrast ratio. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale (MoCA) was used for clinical assessment in the patient groups.

Results. The highest values of the contrast ratio were observed in healthy controls (0.2200 ± 0.0845), results were lower in patients with PD (0.1862 ± 0.0595), in patients with DLB they were even lower (0.1303 ± 0.0623) and the lowest rates were recorded in participants with AD (0.1578 ± 0.0496). In addition, a direct moderate relationship was established between MoCA scores and the values of LC contrast ratio in patients with Alzheimer's disease (r=0.397, p=0.022).

Conclusion. Evaluation of the contrast ratio is an effective method of semiquantitative assess of neuromelanin concentration in the LC. LC contrast ratio undergoes changes in various types of neurodegenerative dementias, and the correlation of LC contrast ratio values with MoCA scores suggests that this indicator can be used in the assessment of noradrenergic dysfunction and associated cognitive impairment.

 

Keywords: neurodegenerative diseases, dementia, locus coeruleus, contrast ratio, MRI, neuromelanin, Alzheimer's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, Parkinson's disease.

 

Corresponding author: Liaskovik A.A., e-mail: Этот e-mail адрес защищен от спам-ботов, для его просмотра у Вас должен быть включен Javascript

 

For citation: Liaskovik A.A., Konovalov R.N., Shpilyukova Yu.A., Nevzorova K.V., Moskalenko A.N., Fedotova E.Yu., Krotenkova M.V. MR-alterations of locus coeruleus in neurodegenerative dementiasa. REJR 2024; 14(1):26-33. DOI: 10.21569/2222-7415-2024-14-1-26-33.

Received:        03.11.23 Accepted:       16.11.23