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Iron deposition influences the measurement of water diffusion tensor in the human brain: a combined analysis of diffusion and iron-induced phase changes

  • Functional Neuroradiology
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Abstract

Introduction

This study aims to evaluate the impact of iron deposition during aging on the measurement of water diffusion in the brain.

Methods

Diffusion tensor images (DTI) and phase images collected from a group of healthy adults from 23 to 72 years old were retrospectively analyzed. The axial diffusivity, radial diffusivity, mean diffusivity (MD), and fractional anisotropy (FA) in the frontal white matter and deep gray matter nuclei were calculated. The phase changes in these regions were used to estimate local iron concentration. Pearson correlation analysis was used to evaluate the age dependence of DTI metrics and iron concentration. Multiple linear regression models were then built to examine the independent effect of age and iron deposition on DTI metrics.

Results

Age-related iron deposition occurred in the putamen (r = 0.680, P < 0.001) and frontal white matter (r = 0.333, P = 0.007). In the putamen, FA increased with elevated iron concentration (P = 0.042) excluding the effect of age, and MD decreased with iron deposition with marginal statistical significance (P = 0.067). In the frontal white matter, increase in iron level was also associated with a decrease in MD and an increase in FA. Moreover, radial diffusivity was more reduced than axial diffusivity as local iron concentration increased.

Conclusion

Iron deposition in the brain during aging decreases water diffusion and increases the degree of anisotropy. Caution is needed when using DTI metrics for diagnosis of various neurological diseases involving abnormal iron deposition.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Key Technology R&D Program of China (2012BAI10B04), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81371519), the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (LY12H18002), the Medical Scientific Research Foundation of Zhejiang Province (2009QN005), and the Educational Scientific Research Foundation of Zhejiang Province (Y200909841).

Ethical standards and patient consent

We declare that all human studies have been approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, and have therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. We declare that all patients gave informed consent prior to inclusion in this study.

Conflict of interest

We declare that we have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, 88 Jiefang Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, 310009

    Xiaojun Xu & Minming Zhang

  2. Department of Radiology, First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China

    Qidong Wang

  3. College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

    Jianhui Zhong

  4. University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY, USA

    Jianhui Zhong

Authors
  1. Xiaojun Xu
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  2. Qidong Wang
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Correspondence to Xiaojun Xu.

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Xu, X., Wang, Q., Zhong, J. et al. Iron deposition influences the measurement of water diffusion tensor in the human brain: a combined analysis of diffusion and iron-induced phase changes. Neuroradiology 57, 1169–1178 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-015-1579-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-015-1579-4

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