Assessing Brain Iron and Its Relationship to Cognition and Comorbidity in Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder With Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping

IF 5.7 2区医学 Q1 NEUROSCIENCES

Biological Psychiatry-Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging Pub Date : 2025-06-01 DOI:10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.08.015

Marcel Schulze , David Coghill , Silke Lux , Alexandra Philipsen , Tim Silk

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Quantitative susceptibility mapping is a neuroimaging technique that detects local changes in magnetic susceptibility induced by brain iron. Brain iron and the dopaminergic system are linked because iron is an important cofactor for dopamine synthesis. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with dysregulation of dopaminergic transmission. Therefore, we applied quantitative susceptibility mapping on subcortical structures to study potential alterations in brain iron and its impact on cognition and mental health in children with ADHD.

Methods

Quantitative susceptibility mapping data (3T) of 111 participants (n_ADHD = 58, mean [SD] age = 13.2 [0.63] years; n_Control = 53, mean [SD] age = 13.2 [0.51] years) were analyzed. Subcortical regional brain iron values were extracted. Analysis of variance was used to examine group differences for each region of interest. For dimensional approaches, Pearson correlation analysis was performed across the cohort to examine the association of brain iron with symptoms, mental health, and cognition.

Results

No significant differences were found in iron susceptibility between children with ADHD and control children, between children with persistent ADHD and those with remitted ADHD, or between medicated and medication-naïve children. An unexpected finding was that children with an internalizing disorder had significantly higher iron susceptibility, but the result did not survive multiple comparison correction. Higher brain iron was associated with sustained attention, but not inhibition, IQ, or working memory.

Conclusions

This is the first study to address brain iron susceptibility and its association with comorbidities and cognition in ADHD. Alterations in brain iron may not fully account for a diagnosis of ADHD but may be an indicator of internalizing problems in children. Alterations in brain iron content in children were linked to detrimental sustained attention and may represent developmental variation in cognition.

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利用定量易感性图谱 (QSM) 评估多动症儿童的脑铁及其与认知和合并症的关系。

背景：定量磁感应强度图（QSM）是一种神经成像技术，可检测脑铁引起的局部磁感应强度变化。由于铁是合成多巴胺的重要辅助因子，因此脑铁与多巴胺能系统息息相关。多动症与多巴胺能传导失调有关。因此，我们对皮层下结构进行了 QSM，以研究多动症儿童脑铁的潜在变化及其对认知和心理健康的影响。方法：分析了 111 名参与者（nADHD= 58，平均年龄：13.2 (0.63)；nControls= 53，平均年龄：13.2 (0.51)）的 3 Tesla QSM 数据。提取了皮层下区域脑铁值。方差分析检验了每个相关区域的组间差异。对于维度方法，在整个群体中进行了皮尔逊相关分析，以研究与症状、心理健康和认知的关联：结果：在多动症与对照组之间、持续性多动症与缓解性多动症之间以及药物使用之间，均未发现铁的易感性有明显差异。一个意想不到的发现是，内化障碍儿童的铁敏感性明显更高，但这一结果经不起多重比较校正。脑铁含量较高与持续注意力有关，但与抑制、智商和工作记忆无关：这是首次针对脑铁易感性及其与多动症合并症和认知能力的关系进行的研究。脑铁的变化可能并不能完全诊断为多动症，但可能是儿童内化问题的一个指标。儿童脑铁含量的变化与不利的持续注意力有关，可能代表了认知能力的发展变化。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Biological Psychiatry-Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging Neuroscience-Biological Psychiatry

CiteScore

10.40

自引率

1.70%

发文量

247

审稿时长

30 days

期刊介绍： Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging is an official journal of the Society for Biological Psychiatry, whose purpose is to promote excellence in scientific research and education in fields that investigate the nature, causes, mechanisms, and treatments of disorders of thought, emotion, or behavior. In accord with this mission, this peer-reviewed, rapid-publication, international journal focuses on studies using the tools and constructs of cognitive neuroscience, including the full range of non-invasive neuroimaging and human extra- and intracranial physiological recording methodologies. It publishes both basic and clinical studies, including those that incorporate genetic data, pharmacological challenges, and computational modeling approaches. The journal publishes novel results of original research which represent an important new lead or significant impact on the field. Reviews and commentaries that focus on topics of current research and interest are also encouraged.