Cerebral gray matter volume reduction in subcortical vascular mild cognitive impairment patients and subcortical vascular dementia patients, and its relation with cognitive deficits.

Maoyu Li,Yao Meng,Bin Zhao,Shuang Yang,Minzhong Wang,Guangbin Wang,Hui Wu

doi:10.1002/brb3.745

Maoyu Li, Yao Meng + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.745

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Abstract

IntroductionSubcortical vascular mild cognitive impairment (svMCI) is the predementia stage of subcortical vascular dementia (SVaD). The aim of this research is to explore and compare cerebral gray matter (GM) volume reduction in svMCI patients and SVaD patients, and to investigate the relationship between cerebral GM volume reduction and cognitive deficits.MethodsThirty one svMCI patients, 29 SVaD patients, and 31 healthy controls were recruited in our research. They conducted neuropsychological tests and brain structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination. To detect cerebral GM volume reduction in svMCI patients and SVaD patients, we used statistical parametric mapping 8‐voxel‐based morphometry 8 (SPM8‐VBM8) method to analyze MRI data. To detect the relationship between cerebral GM volume reduction and cognitive deficits, multiple linear regression analysis was used.ResultsCompared with healthy controls, svMCI patients showed cerebral GM volume reduction in hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus, insula and superior temporal gyrus. Compared with healthy controls, SVaD patients exhibited more atrophy which encompasses all of these areas plus anterior and middle cingulate, inferior temporal gyrus, orbitofrontal cortex, and superior frontal gyrus. In svMCI patients, cerebral GM volume reduction correlated with memory loss, attention dysfunction, and language dysfunction; in SVaD patients, besides those cognitive deficits, cerebral GM volume reduction correlated with more cognitive impairments, including executive dysfunction, neuropsychiatric symptom, and depression.ConclusionsOur findings prove that both svMCI patients and SVaD patients exhibit cerebral GM volume reduction and there may exist a hierarchy between svMCI and SVaD, and cerebral GM volume reduction in both svMCI patients and SVaD patients correlates with cognitive deficits, which can help us understand the mechanism of cognitive impairments in svMCI patients and SVaD patients, and diagnose SVaD at its early stage.

Highlights

Subcortical vascular mild cognitive impairment is the predementia stage of subcortical vascular dementia (SVaD)
The aim of this research is to explore and compare cerebral gray matter (GM) volume reduction in Subcortical vascular mild cognitive impairment (svMCI) and SVaD patients, and to investigate the relationship between cerebral GM volume reduction and cognitive deficits, which can help us understand the mechanism of cognitive impairments in svMCI and SVaD patients, and diagnose SVaD at its early stage
Using SPM8-VBM8 method to analyze magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data, we found that both svMCI patients and SVaD patients exhibited cerebral GM volume reduction and there existed a hierarchy between svMCI and SVaD

Summary

| INTRODUCTION

Vascular dementia (VaD) is considered to be the second most common cause of dementia following Alzheimer’s disease (AD) (Korczyn, Vakhapova, & Grinberg, 2012; O’Brien & Thomas, 2015). One type of VaD, called subcortical vascular dementia (SVaD), results from small vessel disease, and causes cognitive deficits in elderly people (Román, Erkinjuntti, Wallin, Pantoni, & Chui, 2002). The predementia stage of SVaD (Frisoni, Galluzzi, Bresciani, Zanetti, & Geroldi, 2002; Galluzzi, Sheu, Zanetti, & Frisoni, 2005), called subcortical vascular mild cognitive impairment (svMCI), is caused by cerebral small vessel abnormalities. Multiple lacunar infarctions or WMH, which represent cerebral small vessel disease, is limited to diagnose dementia because some elderly people, with similar subcortical vascular lesions, have no cognitive deficits (Pascual et al, 2010). Some authors pointed out that multiple lacunar infarctions and WMH are the characteristics of cerebral small vessel disease, but have no relation with cognitive impairments (Sabri et al, 1998). The aim of this research is to explore and compare cerebral GM volume reduction in svMCI and SVaD patients, and to investigate the relationship between cerebral GM volume reduction and cognitive deficits, which can help us understand the mechanism of cognitive impairments in svMCI and SVaD patients, and diagnose SVaD at its early stage

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Findings

| CONCLUSION