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. 2022 Aug 8:16:944709.
doi: 10.3389/fnins.2022.944709. eCollection 2022.

Iron deposition in the precuneus is correlated with mild cognitive impairment in patients with cerebral microbleeds: A quantitative susceptibility mapping study

Jing Tu  1   2 , Jin Yan  3 , Juan Liu  1 , Dandan Liu  1 , Xiaomeng Wang  1 , Fei Gao  1
Affiliations

Iron deposition in the precuneus is correlated with mild cognitive impairment in patients with cerebral microbleeds: A quantitative susceptibility mapping study

Jing Tu et al. Front Neurosci. .

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to define whether mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is associated with iron deposition in rich-club nodes distant from cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) in patients with cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD).

Methods: A total of 64 participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning and were separated into three groups, namely, CMB(+), CMB(-), and healthy controls (HCs). We compared their characteristics and susceptibility values of rich-club nodes [e.g., superior frontal gyrus (SFG), precuneus, superior occipital gyrus (SOG), thalamus, and putamen]. We then divided the CMB(+) and CMB(-) groups into subgroups of patients with or without MCI. Then, we analyzed the relationship between iron deposition and MCI by comparing the susceptibility values of rich-club nodes. We assessed cognitive functions using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and quantified iron content using quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM).

Results: In the putamen, the CMB(+) and CMB(-) groups had significantly different susceptibility values. Compared with the HCs, the CMB(+) and CMB(-) groups had significantly different susceptibility values for the SFG and SOG. In addition, we found significant differences in the putamen susceptibility values of the CMB(+)MCI(+) group and the two CMB(-) groups. The CMB(+)MCI(+) and CMB(+)MCI(-) groups had significantly different precuneus susceptibility values. The binary logistic regression analysis revealed that only higher susceptibility values of precuneus were associated with a cognitive decline in patients with CMBs, and it indicated statistical significance.

Conclusion: Iron deposition in the precuneus is an independent risk factor for MCI in patients with CMBs. CMBs might influence iron content in remote rich-club nodes and be relevant to MCI.

Keywords: cerebral microbleed; cerebral small vessel disease; cognitive impairment; precuneus; quantitative susceptibility mapping.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of study population.
Figure 2
Figure 2
A schematic of measured regions on QSM. 1,2 = caudate nucleus (CN); 3,4 = putamen (PU); 5,6 = globus pallidus (GP); 7,8 = thalamus (TH); 9,10 = precuneus (PR); 11,12 = superior occipital gyrus (SOG); 13,14 = superior frontal gyrus (SFG).
Figure 3
Figure 3
The relation between susceptibility values and iron concentration. This graph showed strong linear relation between susceptibility values [ppb (× 10−9)] and iron concentration (mg iron/100 g fresh weight).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Susceptibility values of bilateral hemispheres. Comparison of the susceptibility values of all participants' bilateral hemispheres by paired t-test. There was no significant difference between them.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The iron content of rich-club nodes (grouped by the presence of CMB). The histogram expresses normal distribution data; “T” denotes standard deviation. The violin diagram expresses abnormal distribution data; three transverse lines denote the 75th percentile, median, and 25th percentile (top to bottom). *p-value < 0.05, **p-value < 0.01, ***p-value < 0.001.
Figure 6
Figure 6
The iron content of rich-club nodes (grouped by the presence of CMB or MCI). The histogram expresses normal distribution data; “T” denotes standard deviation. The violin diagram expresses abnormal distribution data; three transverse lines denote the 75th percentile, median, and 25th percentile (top to bottom). *p-value < 0.05.
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