Age-Related Decline in Brain Myelination: Quantitative Macromolecular Proton Fraction Mapping, T2-FLAIR Hyperintensity Volume, and Anti-Myelin Antibodies Seven Years Apart
Marina Khodanovich,
Mikhail Svetlik,
Anna Naumova,
Daria Kamaeva,
Anna Usova,
Marina Kudabaeva,
Tatyana Anan’ina,
Irina Wasserlauf,
Valentina Pashkevich,
Marina Moshkina,
Victoria Obukhovskaya,
Nadezhda Kataeva,
Anastasia Levina,
Yana Tumentceva,
Vasily Yarnykh
Affiliations
Marina Khodanovich
Laboratory of Neurobiology, Research Institute of Biology and Biophysics, Tomsk State University, 36 Lenina Ave., Tomsk 634050, Russia
Mikhail Svetlik
Laboratory of Neurobiology, Research Institute of Biology and Biophysics, Tomsk State University, 36 Lenina Ave., Tomsk 634050, Russia
Anna Naumova
Laboratory of Neurobiology, Research Institute of Biology and Biophysics, Tomsk State University, 36 Lenina Ave., Tomsk 634050, Russia
Daria Kamaeva
Laboratory of Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Mental Health Research Institute, Tomsk National Research Medical Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Tomsk 634014, Russia
Anna Usova
Cancer Research Institute, Tomsk National Research Medical Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 12/1 Savinykh St., Tomsk 634009, Russia
Marina Kudabaeva
Laboratory of Neurobiology, Research Institute of Biology and Biophysics, Tomsk State University, 36 Lenina Ave., Tomsk 634050, Russia
Tatyana Anan’ina
Laboratory of Neurobiology, Research Institute of Biology and Biophysics, Tomsk State University, 36 Lenina Ave., Tomsk 634050, Russia
Irina Wasserlauf
Laboratory of Neurobiology, Research Institute of Biology and Biophysics, Tomsk State University, 36 Lenina Ave., Tomsk 634050, Russia
Valentina Pashkevich
Laboratory of Neurobiology, Research Institute of Biology and Biophysics, Tomsk State University, 36 Lenina Ave., Tomsk 634050, Russia
Marina Moshkina
Laboratory of Neurobiology, Research Institute of Biology and Biophysics, Tomsk State University, 36 Lenina Ave., Tomsk 634050, Russia
Victoria Obukhovskaya
Laboratory of Neurobiology, Research Institute of Biology and Biophysics, Tomsk State University, 36 Lenina Ave., Tomsk 634050, Russia
Nadezhda Kataeva
Laboratory of Neurobiology, Research Institute of Biology and Biophysics, Tomsk State University, 36 Lenina Ave., Tomsk 634050, Russia
Anastasia Levina
Laboratory of Neurobiology, Research Institute of Biology and Biophysics, Tomsk State University, 36 Lenina Ave., Tomsk 634050, Russia
Yana Tumentceva
Laboratory of Neurobiology, Research Institute of Biology and Biophysics, Tomsk State University, 36 Lenina Ave., Tomsk 634050, Russia
Vasily Yarnykh
Department of Radiology, University of Washington, 850 Republican Street, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
Age-related myelination decrease is considered one of the likely mechanisms of cognitive decline. The present preliminary study is based on the longitudinal assessment of global and regional myelination of the normal adult human brain using fast macromolecular fraction (MPF) mapping. Additional markers were age-related changes in white matter (WM) hyperintensities on FLAIR-MRI and the levels of anti-myelin autoantibodies in serum. Eleven healthy subjects (33–60 years in the first study) were scanned twice, seven years apart. An age-related decrease in MPF was found in global WM, grey matter (GM), and mixed WM–GM, as well as in 48 out of 82 examined WM and GM regions. The greatest decrease in MPF was observed for the frontal WM (2–5%), genu of the corpus callosum (CC) (4.0%), and caudate nucleus (5.9%). The age-related decrease in MPF significantly correlated with an increase in the level of antibodies against myelin basic protein (MBP) in serum (r = 0.69 and r = 0.63 for global WM and mixed WM–GM, correspondingly). The volume of FLAIR hyperintensities increased with age but did not correlate with MPF changes and the levels of anti-myelin antibodies. MPF mapping showed high sensitivity to age-related changes in brain myelination, providing the feasibility of this method in clinics.
