Regional Brain Atrophy and Functional Connectivity Changes Related to Fatigue in Multiple Sclerosis

Abstract Background: The lifetime prevalence of depression in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) is approximately 50% compared with around 16% in the general population. There is a relationship between depression and quality of life in people with MS and evidence that depression may contribute to disease progression. Methods: This cross-sectional pilot study assessed the association between depression and regional brain atrophy, including amygdala and hippocampal volume. Forty-nine participants with MS recruited through a hospital MS clinic were administered the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale Revised (CESD-R) to investigate whether higher endorsement on the items depressive affect and interpersonal symptoms were associated with volumetric magnetic resonance imaging measurements of hippocampal and amygdala atrophy. Results: Regression analysis revealed an association between depression-related interpersonal symptoms and right amygdala volume. No association was found between depression and hippocampal volume. Conclusions: These results provide preliminary support for a unilateral, biologically based relationship between the right amygdala and characteristic interpersonal depressive symptoms expressed by people with MS and add to the growing body of literature implicating regional brain atrophy in MS-associated depression. Given that the interpersonal subcomponent of the CESD-R measures social functioning, and the neural networks in the amygdala are known to be implicated in processing social stimuli, this research suggests that targeted diagnosis and treatments for depression in people with MS may be particularly beneficial in this population. Further confirmatory research of this relationship is required.

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Regional Brain Atrophy Is Associated With Physical Disability in Multiple Sclerosis: Semiquantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Relationship to Clinical Findings

Journal of Neuroimaging ◽

10.1111/j.1552-6569.2001.tb00022.x ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 129-136 ◽

Cited By ~ 45

Author(s):

Rohit Bakshi ◽

Ralph H. B. Benedict ◽

Robert A. Bermel ◽

Lawrence Jacobs

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽

Multiple Sclerosis ◽

Magnetic Resonance ◽

Brain Atrophy ◽

Physical Disability ◽

Clinical Findings ◽

Resonance Imaging ◽

Regional Brain ◽

Regional Brain Atrophy

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Regional brain atrophy in primary fatigued patients with multiple sclerosis

NeuroImage ◽

10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.12.118 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 50 (2) ◽

pp. 608-615 ◽

Cited By ~ 41

Author(s):

A.K. Andreasen ◽

J. Jakobsen ◽

L. Soerensen ◽

H. Andersen ◽

T. Petersen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Multiple Sclerosis ◽

Brain Atrophy ◽

Regional Brain ◽

Regional Brain Atrophy

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Global and regional brain atrophy is associated with low or retrograde facial vein flow in multiple sclerosis

Veins and Lymphatics ◽

10.4081/vl.2017.6976 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Dejan Jakimovski ◽

Karen Marr ◽

Marcello Mancini ◽

Maria Grazia Caprio ◽

Sirin Gandhi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Multiple Sclerosis ◽

Gray Matter ◽

Brain Atrophy ◽

Structural Damage ◽

Vascular System ◽

Color Doppler ◽

Neurodegenerative Process ◽

Regional Brain ◽

Facial Vein ◽

Regional Brain Atrophy

Increased collateral facial vein (FV) flow may be associated with structural damage in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). The objective was to assess differences in FV flow and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-derived outcomes in MS. The study included 136 MS patients who underwent neck and head vascular system examination by echo-color Doppler. Inflammatory MRI markers were assessed on a 3T MRI using a semi-automated edge detection and contouring/ thresholding technique. MRI volumetric outcomes of whole brain (WB), gray matter (GM), white matter (WM), cortex, ventricular cerebrospinal fluid (vCSF), deep gray matter (DGM), thalamus, caudate nucleus (CN), putamen, globus pallidus (GP), and hippocampus were calculated. Independent <em>t</em>-test and ANCOVA, adjusted for age, were used to compare groups based on FV flow quartiles. Thirty-four MS patients with FV flow ≤327.8 mL/min (lowest quartile) had significantly lower WB (P<0.001), WM (P<0.001), thalamus (P=0.004), cortex (P=0.004), GM (P=0.004), DGM (P=0.008), hippocampus (P=0.005), and GP volumes (P=0.044) compared to 102 patients with FV flow of >327.8 mL/min (higher quartiles). There were no differences in T1-, T2- and gadolinium- enhancing lesion volumes between the quartile groups. The lack of an association between FV blood flow and inflammatory MRI measures in MS patients, but an association with brain atrophy, suggests that the severity of neurodegenerative process may be related to hemodynamic alterations. MS patients with more advanced global and regional brain atrophy showed low or retrograde FV volume flow.

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