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. 2024 Jan 13;6(1):tzae002.
doi: 10.1093/bjro/tzae002. eCollection 2024 Jan.

Changes in lumbar muscle diffusion tensor indices with age

Andrew D Weedall  1 , Alexander Dallaway  2   3 , John Hattersley  4   5 , Michael Diokno  6 , Charles E Hutchinson  6   7 , Adrian J Wilson  4   8 , Sarah C Wayte  1
Affiliations

Changes in lumbar muscle diffusion tensor indices with age

Andrew D Weedall et al. BJR Open. .

Abstract

Objective: To investigate differences in diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) parameters and proton density fat fraction (PDFF) in the spinal muscles of younger and older adult males.

Methods: Twelve younger (19-30 years) and 12 older (61-81years) healthy, physically active male participants underwent T1W, T2W, Dixon and DTI of the lumbar spine. The eigenvalues (λ1, λ2, and λ3), fractional anisotropy (FA), and mean diffusivity (MD) from the DTI together with the PDFF were determined in the multifidus, medial and lateral erector spinae (ESmed, ESlat), and quadratus lumborum (QL) muscles. A two-way ANOVA was used to investigate differences with age and muscle and t-tests for differences in individual muscles with age.

Results: The ANOVA gave significant differences with age for all DTI parameters and the PDFF (P < .01) and with muscle (P < .01) for all DTI parameters except for λ1 and for the PDFF. The mean of the eigenvalues and MD were lower and the FA higher in the older age group with differences reaching statistical significance for all DTI measures for ESlat and QL (P < .01) but only in ESmed for λ3 and MD (P < .05).

Conclusions: Differences in DTI parameters of muscle with age result from changes in both in the intra- and extra-cellular space and cannot be uniquely explained in terms of fibre length and diameter.

Advances in knowledge: Previous studies looking at age have used small groups with uneven age spacing. Our study uses two well defined and separated age groups.

Keywords: DTI; ageing; fat fraction; muscle.

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Conflict of interest statement

None declared.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
An example of the circular regions of interest (ROIs) in the muscles studied on the L3ep slice of a T1w image. The diameter of the ROI for each muscle was the largest that could be fitted into all four sites (right and left for L3ep and L4ep) excluding regions of fat for that muscle.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
The individual values for the PDFF within the ROIs. The values of the mean±standard deviation for each muscle (Table 5) are shown together with the results of the t-test comparisons between muscles (*P < .05, **P < .01). Abbreviations: PDFF = proton density fat fraction; ROIs = regions of interest.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
The individual values of the DTI parameters for each muscle. These are shown together with the mean and standard deviations for each muscle in each age group (Table 7). Results of the t-test analysis of differences between age groups for each muscle are shown (*P < .05, **P < .01). Abbreviation: DTI = diffusion tensor imaging.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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