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Quantification of white matter cellularity and damage in preclinical and early symptomatic Alzheimer's disease
Wang Q, Wang Y, Liu J, Sutphen CL, Cruchaga C, Blazey T, Gordon BA, Su Y et al.. NeuroImage. Clinical, 2019-03-13
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Interest in understanding the roles of white matter (WM) inflammation and damage in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer disease (AD) has been growing significantly in recent years. However, in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques for imaging inflammation are still lacking. An advanced diffusion-based MRI method, neuro-inflammation imaging (NII), has been developed to clinically image and quantify WM inflammation and damage in AD. Here, we employed NII measures in conjunction with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarker classification (for β-amyloid (Aβ) and neurodegeneration) to evaluate 200 participants in an ongoing study of memory and aging. Elevated NII-derived cellular diffusivity was observed in both preclinical and early symptomatic phases of AD, while disruption of WM integrity, as detected by decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) and increased radial diffusivity (RD), was only observed in the symptomatic phase of AD. This may suggest that WM inflammation occurs earlier than WM damage following abnormal Aβ accumulation in AD. The negative correlation between NII-derived cellular diffusivity and CSF Aβ 42 level (a marker of amyloidosis) may indicate that WM inflammation is associated with increasing Aβ burden. NII-derived FA also negatively correlated with CSF t-tau level (a marker of neurodegeneration), suggesting that disruption of WM integrity is associated with increasing neurodegeneration. Our findings demonstrated the capability of NII to simultaneously image and quantify WM cellularity changes and damage in preclinical and early symptomatic AD. NII may serve as a clinically feasible imaging tool to study the individual and composite roles of WM inflammation and damage in AD.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Wang, Q., Wang, Y., Liu, J., Sutphen, C. L., Cruchaga, C., Blazey, T., et al. (2019). Quantification of white matter cellularity and damage in preclinical and early symptomatic Alzheimer's disease. NeuroImage. Clinical. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2019.101767
Vancouver
Wang Q, Wang Y, Liu J, Sutphen CL, Cruchaga C, Blazey T, et al. Quantification of white matter cellularity and damage in preclinical and early symptomatic Alzheimer's disease. NeuroImage. Clinical. 2019. doi:10.1016/j.nicl.2019.101767. PMID: 30901713.
BibTeX
@article{wang2019-30901713,
author = {Wang, Q. and Wang, Y. and Liu, J. and Sutphen, C. L. and Cruchaga, C. and Blazey, T. and Gordon, B. A. and Su, Y. and others},
title = {{Quantification of white matter cellularity and damage in preclinical and early symptomatic Alzheimer's disease}},
journal = {NeuroImage. Clinical},
year = {2019},
doi = {10.1016/j.nicl.2019.101767},
pmid = {30901713},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2019.101767}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- Interest in understanding the roles of white matter (WM) inflammation and damage in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer disease (AD) has been growing significantly in recent years.
- This may suggest that WM inflammation occurs earlier than WM damage following abnormal Aβ accumulation in AD.
- The negative correlation between NII-derived cellular diffusivity and CSF Aβ 42 level (a marker of amyloidosis) may indicate that WM inflammation is associated with increasing Aβ burden.
- NII-derived FA also negatively correlated with CSF t-tau level (a marker of neurodegeneration), suggesting that disruption of WM integrity is associated with increasing neurodegeneration.
- Our findings demonstrated the capability of NII to simultaneously image and quantify WM cellularity changes and damage in preclinical and early symptomatic AD.
Why it matters
Using a diffusion-based MRI method, elevated white matter cellular diffusivity was seen in both preclinical and early symptomatic Alzheimer disease, suggesting white matter inflammation may occur earlier than white matter damage after abnormal amyloid accumulation. This is an imaging study of white matter inflammation and damage, not a treatment, cure or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Participants200
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 49/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (NeuroImage. Clinical) |
| Journal's citation record | 1 / 4 | NeuroImage Clinical: journal h-index 133 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 2 / 5 | 2019 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 200 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 4 / 7 | Cited 63 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 7.0 citations a year over 9 year(s) since 2019 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 3.2× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 4 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 29 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Tammie L.S. Benzinger: h-index 98 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | Washington University in St. Louis: institution h-index 1,962 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 30901713) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 49 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
- DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2019.101767
- PubMed: 30901713
- Original source →
- Free full text: NeuroImage Clinical →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
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