Mov Disord: Neuromelanin changes are highly correlated with the deterioration of Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by the gradual loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra (SNpc)

So far, no treatment has been proven to slow the progression of the disease, but people are already trying to determine effective imaging outcome measures for future treatment trials

SNc dopaminergic neurons contain a paramagnetic neuromelanin (NM)

In this way, Rahul Gaurav and others of the French National Neuroimaging Center investigated the NM signal changes related to disease progression in PD patients and discussed its potential value as a biomarker of disease changes in clinical neuroprotection trials

Based on a prospective, longitudinal, and observational case-control study, they included 140 PD patients and 64 healthy volunteers, divided into two cohorts

Cohort I included 99 early PD patients (disease course, 1.

Cohort II included 41 progressive PD patients (with a course of 9.

The subjects were scanned using 3D T1-weighted and neuromelanin-sensitive imaging in 3T MRI

They found:

(1) During different visits, compared with healthy volunteers, the substantia nigra volume was significantly reduced in PD patients in progress

(3) There is a significant interaction between the different grouping situations and the volume of follow-up

(4) Female patients have a larger substantia nigra at baseline.

(5) There is a correlation between the changes of neuromelanin SN and the severity and duration of the disease

The important significance of this study lies in the discovery: the progressive reduction of SN signal and volume of neuromelanin in PD patients, which may allow direct non-invasive evaluation of the progression of SN loss, and may be used as an important indicator for observing the effect of disease treatment

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