scholarly journals Characteristics of mental health implications and plasma metabolomics in patients recently recovered from COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lian Yang ◽  
Mei Zhou ◽  
Lingli Li ◽  
Ping Luo ◽  
Wenliang Fan ◽  
...  

AbstractThis study aimed to explore the associations between cerebral white matter (WM) alterations, mental health status, and metabolism in recovered COVID-19 patients. We included 28 recovered COVID-19 patients and 27 healthy controls between April 2020 and June 2020. Demographic data, the mental health scores, diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI) data, and plasma metabolomics were collected and compared between the two groups. Tract-based spatial statistics and graph theory approaches were used for DTI data analysis. Untargeted metabolomics analysis of the plasma was performed. Correlation analyses were performed between these characteristics. Recovered COVID-19 patients showed decreased fractional anisotropy, increased mean diffusivity and radial diffusivity values in widespread brain regions, and significantly lower global efficiency, longer shortest path length, and less nodal local efficiency in superior occipital gyrus (all, P < 0.05, Bonferroni corrected). Our results also demonstrated significantly different plasma metabolic profiling in recovered COVID-19 patients even at 3 months after their hospital discharge, which was mainly related to purine pathways, amino acids, lipids, and amine metabolism. Certain regions with cerebral WM alterations in the recovered patients showed significant correlations with different metabolites and the mental health scores. We observed multiple alterations in both WM integrity and plasma metabolomics that may explain the deteriorated mental health of recovered COVID-19 patients. These findings may provide potential biomarkers for the mental health evaluation for the recovered COVID-19 patients and potential targets for novel therapeutics.

Stroke ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Ng ◽  
Vijay Venkatraman ◽  
Mark Parsons ◽  
Andrew Bivard ◽  
Gagan Sharma ◽  
...  

Objective: To evaluate the degree of variability in microstructural injury within and adjacent to regions identified as infarcted tissue using Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI). Methods: Perfusion CT was performed in 18 patients within 12 hours of ischemic stroke onset followed by Fluid-attenuated Inversion recovery (FLAIR) and DTI one month after stroke. Four regions of interest (ROIs) corresponding to the severity of hypoperfusion on CT perfusion within and beyond the radiological infarct lesion defined on FLAIR were segmented. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) were quantified for each ROI and compared to a mirror homologue in the contralateral hemisphere. Ipsilateral to contralateral FA and MD ratios were compared across ROIs. Results: Lower FA and higher MD values were observed within both the infarct lesion and the peri-infarct tissue compared with their homologous contralateral brain regions (all comparisons p≤0.01). No difference was observed in FA and MD between remote non-hypoperfused tissue and its contralateral homologous region (FA p=0.42, MD p≥0.99). The magnitude of asymmetry (ipsilateral/contralateral ratios) of FA and MD was greater with increasing severity of hypoperfusion in a dose-response pattern. Asymmetry greatest in the area of infarction with severe hypoperfusion, followed by infarction with moderate hypoperfusion, the peri-infarct hypoperfused tissue and lastly the remote non-hypoperfused normal tissue (median on clustered quantile regression p≤0.01). Conclusion: A gradient of microstructural injury corresponding to the severity of ischemic insult is present within and beyond conventionally-defined infarct boundaries. The traditional dichotomized notion of infarcted versus non-infarcted tissue widely adopted in clinical research and in practice warrants re-examination.


2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo Flores-Alvarez ◽  
Edgar Anselmo Rios Piedra ◽  
Griselda-Adriana Cruz-Priego ◽  
Coral Durand-Muñoz ◽  
Sergio Moreno-Jimenez ◽  
...  

AbstractIntroductionSpecific correlations among diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)-derived metrics and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) metabolite ratios in brains with glioblastoma are still not completely understood.Patients and methodsWe made retrospective cohort study. MRS ratios (choline-to-N-acetyl aspartate [Cho/NAA], lipids and lactate to creatine [LL/Cr], and myo-inositol/creatine [mI/Cr]) were correlated with eleven DTI biomarkers: mean diffusivity (MD), fractional anisotropy (FA), pure isotropic diffusion (p), pure anisotropic diffusion (q), the total magnitude of the diffusion tensor (L), linear tensor (Cl), planar tensor (Cp), spherical tensor (Cs), relative anisotropy (RA), axial diffusivity (AD) and radial diffusivity (RD) at the same regions: enhanced rim, peritumoral oedema and normal-appearing white matter. Correlational analyses of 546 MRS and DTI measurements used Spearman coefficient.ResultsAt the enhancing rim we found four significant correlations: FA ⇔ LL/Cr, Rs = -.364, p = .034; Cp ⇔ LL/Cr, Rs = .362, p = .035; q ⇔ LL/Cr, Rs = -.349, p = .035; RA ⇔ LL/Cr, Rs = -.357, p = .038. Another ten pairs of significant correlations were found in the peritumoral edema: AD ⇔ LL/Cr, AD ⇔ mI/Cr, MD ⇔ LL/Cr, MD ⇔ mI/Cr, p ⇔ LL/Cr, p ⇔ mI/ Cr, RD ⇔ mI/Cr, RD ⇔ mI/Cr, L ⇔ LL/Cr, L ⇔ mI/Cr.ConclusionsDTI and MRS biomarkers answer different questions; peritumoral oedema represents the biggest challenge with at least ten significant correlations between DTI and MRS that need additional studies. The fact that DTI and MRS measures are not specific of one histologic type of tumour broadens their application to a wider variety of intracranial pathologies.


2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 454-460
Author(s):  
Dana M Middleton ◽  
Jonathan Y Li ◽  
Steven D Chen ◽  
Leonard E White ◽  
Patricia I Dickson ◽  
...  

Purpose We compared fractional anisotropy and radial diffusivity measurements between pediatric canines affected with mucopolysaccharidosis I and pediatric control canines. We hypothesized that lower fractional anisotropy and higher radial diffusivity values, consistent with dysmyelination, would be present in the mucopolysaccharidosis I cohort. Methods Six canine brains, three affected with mucopolysaccharidosis I and three unaffected, were euthanized at 7 weeks and imaged using a 7T small-animal magnetic resonance imaging system. Average fractional anisotropy and radial diffusivity values were calculated for four white-matter regions based on 100 regions of interest per region per specimen. A 95% confidence interval was calculated for each mean value. Results No difference was seen in fractional anisotropy or radial diffusivity values between mucopolysaccharidosis affected and unaffected brains in any region. In particular, the 95% confidence intervals for mucopolysaccharidosis affected and unaffected canines frequently overlapped for both fractional anisotropy and radial diffusivity measurements. In addition, in some brain regions a large range of fractional anisotropy and radial diffusivity values were seen within the same cohort. Conclusion The fractional anisotropy and radial diffusivity values of white matter did not differ between pediatric mucopolysaccharidosis affected canines and pediatric control canines. Possible explanations include: (a) a lack of white matter tissue differences between mucopolysaccharidosis affected and unaffected brains at early disease stages; (b) diffusion tensor imaging does not detect any existing differences; (c) inflammatory processes such as astrogliosis produce changes that offset the decreased fractional anisotropy values and increased radial diffusivity values that are expected in dysmyelination; and (d) our sample size was insufficient to detect differences. Further studies correlating diffusion tensor imaging findings to histology are warranted.


Neurology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. e30-e39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meher R. Juttukonda ◽  
Giulia Franco ◽  
Dario J. Englot ◽  
Ya-Chen Lin ◽  
Kalen J. Petersen ◽  
...  

ObjectiveTo assess white matter integrity in patients with essential tremor (ET) and Parkinson disease (PD) with moderate to severe motor impairment.MethodsSedated participants with ET (n = 57) or PD (n = 99) underwent diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, axial diffusivity, and radial diffusivity values were computed. White matter tracts were defined using 3 well-described atlases. To determine candidate white matter regions that differ between ET and PD groups, a bootstrapping analysis was applied using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator. Linear regression was applied to assess magnitude and direction of differences in DTI metrics between ET and PD populations in the candidate regions.ResultsFractional anisotropy values that differentiate ET from PD localize primarily to thalamic and visual-related pathways, while diffusivity differences localized to the cerebellar peduncles. Patients with ET exhibited lower fractional anisotropy values than patients with PD in the lateral geniculate body (p < 0.01), sagittal stratum (p = 0.01), forceps major (p = 0.02), pontine crossing tract (p = 0.03), and retrolenticular internal capsule (p = 0.04). Patients with ET exhibited greater radial diffusivity values than patients with PD in the superior cerebellar peduncle (p < 0.01), middle cerebellar peduncle (p = 0.05), and inferior cerebellar peduncle (p = 0.05).ConclusionsRegionally, distinctive white matter microstructural values in patients with ET localize to the cerebellar peduncles and thalamo-cortical visual pathways. These findings complement recent functional imaging studies in ET but also extend our understanding of putative physiologic features that account for distinctions between ET and PD.


2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 960-960
Author(s):  
J.L. Villegas Martínez ◽  
J.A. Blanco Garrote ◽  
F. Uribe Ladrón de Cegama ◽  
B. Arribas Simón ◽  
G. Cabús Piñol

IntroductionDiffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a magnetic resonance imaging technique that have increasingly being used for the non-invasive evaluation of brain white matter (WM) abnormalities. Several studies suggest that the normal integration of cerebral function may be compromised in schizophrenia. Abnormalities in WM tracts may be directly relevant for the neuropathology of schizophrenia.ObjetivesThe purpose of this review was to discuss recent DTI findings in schizophrenia and a methodologic analysis.MethodsThe literature search was performed with the search engine PubMed of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Search strategy used was based on the Cochrane review technique, limited to the period between 1998 (first report on DTI and schizophrenia) and May 2010. And limited to ‘Title/Abstract’. The reference lists of these studies were used to identify additional studies.ResultsThere is a striking amount of heterogeneity in findings, probably by methodologic problems. Brain regions such as the cingulate bundle, corpus callosum, and regions within frontal and temporal WM have a proportionally larger number of positive findings across the studies. In addition, WM tracts as The superior longitudinal fasciculus, fronto-occipital longitudinal fasciculi, uncinate fasciculi, frontal longitudinal fasciculus and the arcuate fasciculus have also positive findings in patients with schizophrenia. Other brain structures as the cerebellar peduncles, the fornix, the hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus, the thalamic and optic radiations have been evaluated and shown positive findings. However, these findings are not present in all studies. DTI abnormalities in first-episode patients are less robust than in chronic patients.ConclusionsRecent DTI findings further support the hypothesis of structural dysconnectivity in schizophrenia.


2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-16
Author(s):  
Alexander Rau ◽  
Elias Kellner ◽  
Niels A Foit ◽  
Niklas Lützen ◽  
Dieter H Heiland ◽  
...  

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether ganglioglioma (GGL), dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumour (DNET) and FCD (focal cortical dysplasia) are distinguishable through diffusion tensor imaging. Additionally, it was investigated whether the diffusion measures differed in the perilesional (pNAWM) and in the contralateral normal appearing white matter (cNAWM). Six GGLs, eight DNETs and seven FCDs were included in this study. Quantitative diffusion measures, that is, axial, radial and mean diffusivity and fractional anisotropy, were determined in the lesion identified on isotropic T2 or FLAIR-weighted images and in pNAWM and cNAWM, respectively. DNET differed from FCD in mean diffusivity, and GGL from FCD in radial diffusivity. Both types of glioneuronal tumours were different from pNAWM in fractional anisotropy and radial diffusivity. For identifying the tumour edges, threshold values for tumour-free tissue were investigated with receiver operating characteristic analyses: tumour could be separated from pNAWM at a threshold ≤ 0.32 (fractional anisotropy) or ≥ 0.56 (radial diffusivity) *10–3 mm2/s (area under the curve 0.995 and 0.990 respectively). While diffusion parameters of FCDs differed from cNAWM (radial diffusivity (*10–3 mm/s2): 0.74 ± 0.19 vs. 0.43 ± 0.05; corrected p-value < 0.001), the pNAWM could not be differentiated from the FCD.


Author(s):  
Evanthia E. Tripoliti ◽  
Dimitrios I. Fotiadis ◽  
Konstantia Veliou

Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) is a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) modality which can significantly improve our understanding of the brain structures and neural connectivity. DTI measures are thought to be representative of brain tissue microstructure and are particularly useful for examining organized brain regions, such as white matter tract areas. DTI measures the water diffusion tensor using diffusion weighted pulse sequences which are sensitive to microscopic random water motion. The resulting diffusion weighted images (DWI) display and allow quantification of how water diffuses along axes or diffusion encoding directions. This can help to measure and quantify the tissue’s orientation and structure, making it an ideal tool for examining cerebral white matter and neural fiber tracts. In this chapter the authors discuss the theoretical aspects of DTI, the information that can be extracted from DTI data, and the use of the extracted information for the reconstruction of fiber tracts and the diagnosis of a disease. In addition, a review of known fiber tracking algorithms is presented.


2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 483-494
Author(s):  
Christina Andica ◽  
Koji Kamagata ◽  
Takuya Hayashi ◽  
Akifumi Hagiwara ◽  
Wataru Uchida ◽  
...  

Abstract Purpose The reproducibility of neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) metrics in the human brain has not been explored across different magnetic resonance (MR) scanners from different vendors. This study aimed to evaluate the scan–rescan and inter-vendor reproducibility of NODDI metrics in white and gray matter of healthy subjects using two 3-T MR scanners from two vendors. Methods Ten healthy subjects (7 males; mean age 30 ± 7 years, range 23–37 years) were included in the study. Whole-brain diffusion-weighted imaging was performed with b-values of 1000 and 2000 s/mm2 using two 3-T MR scanners from two different vendors. Automatic extraction of the region of interest was performed to obtain NODDI metrics for whole and localized areas of white and gray matter. The coefficient of variation (CoV) and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were calculated to assess the scan–rescan and inter-vendor reproducibilities of NODDI metrics. Results The scan–rescan and inter-vendor reproducibility of NODDI metrics (intracellular volume fraction and orientation dispersion index) were comparable with those of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics. However, the inter-vendor reproducibilities of NODDI (CoV = 2.3–14%) were lower than the scan–rescan reproducibility (CoV: scanner A = 0.8–3.8%; scanner B = 0.8–2.6%). Compared with the finding of DTI metrics, the reproducibility of NODDI metrics was lower in white matter and higher in gray matter. Conclusion The lower inter-vendor reproducibility of NODDI in some brain regions indicates that data acquired from different MRI scanners should be carefully interpreted.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiangdong Wang ◽  
Chunyao Zhou ◽  
Lei Wang ◽  
Yinyan Wang ◽  
Tao Jiang

Abstract Gliomas grow and invade along white matter fiber tracts. This study assessed the effects of motor cortex gliomas on the cerebral white matter fiber bundle skeleton. The motor cortex glioma group included 21 patients, and the control group comprised 14 healthy volunteers. Both groups underwent magnetic resonance imaging-based 3.0 T diffusion tensor imaging. We used tract-based spatial statistics to analyze the characteristics of white matter fiber bundles. The left and right motor cortex glioma groups were analyzed separately from the control group. Results were statistically corrected by the family-wise error rate. Compared with the controls, patients with left motor cortex gliomas exhibited significantly reduced fractional anisotropy and an increased radial diffusivity in the corpus callosum. The alterations in mean diffusivity (MD) and the axial diffusivity (AD) were widely distributed throughout the brain. Furthermore, atlas-based analysis showed elevated MD and AD in the contralateral superior fronto-occipital fasciculus. Motor cortex gliomas significantly affect white matter fiber microstructure proximal to the tumor. The range of affected white matter fibers may extend beyond the tumor-affected area. These changes are primarily related to early stage tumor invasion.


Author(s):  
Piotr Podwalski ◽  
Krzysztof Szczygieł ◽  
Ernest Tyburski ◽  
Leszek Sagan ◽  
Błażej Misiak ◽  
...  

Abstract Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is an imaging technique that uses magnetic resonance. It measures the diffusion of water molecules in tissues, which can occur either without restriction (i.e., in an isotropic manner) or limited by some obstacles, such as cell membranes (i.e., in an anisotropic manner). Diffusion is most often measured in terms of, inter alia, fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), radial diffusivity (RD), and axial diffusivity (AD). DTI allows us to reconstruct, visualize, and evaluate certain qualities of white matter. To date, many studies have sought to associate various changes in the distribution of diffusion within the brain with mental diseases and disorders. A better understanding of white matter integrity disorders can help us recognize the causes of diseases, as well as help create objective methods of psychiatric diagnosis, identify biomarkers of mental illness, and improve pharmacotherapy. The aim of this work is to present the characteristics of DTI as well as current research on its use in schizophrenia, affective disorders, and other mental disorders.


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