Mind the gap – Interthalamic adhesions in prodromal and clinical Alzheimer’s disease

IF 3.7 3区医学 Q2 NEUROSCIENCES

Brain Research Bulletin Pub Date : 2025-09-23 DOI:10.1016/j.brainresbull.2025.111559

Gonzalo Forno , Julie P. Vidal , Phoebe Rush , Rachel Tan , John P. Aggleton , Emmanuel J. Barbeau , Michael Hornberger , for the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

The interthalamic adhesion (IA) is an anatomical bridge connecting the left and right thalamus. While prior studies have explored its prevalence and function in healthy populations, stroke, hydrocephalus, and schizophrenia, none have examined the IA in the context of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This study aims to analyse the prevalence of the IA in the prodromal to clinical AD continuum and evaluate the association with AD cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers and thalamic, hippocampal, and ventricular volumes.

Method

IA prevalence was assessed in 542 MRIs from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), including healthy controls (HC), early mild cognitive impairment (EMCI), late MCI (LMCI), and AD patients. Inter-rater reliability was assessed with Cohen’s Kappa, and a chi-squared test (χ2) examined rater differences. Binary and multinomial logistic regressions evaluated the effect of CSF biomarkers, volumes, and clinical data on IA prevalence and type.

Results

There were no significant differences in IA prevalence or variants across the four groups. The single IA was the most common type, while bilobar and double variants were less frequent. Post-hoc analysis, however, showed that AD CSF biomarker measures showed positive associations with the broad IA subtype in HC and EMCI.

Conclusion

The study found no overall differences in IA prevalence or its variants related to prodromal or clinical AD. Still, elevated Aβ42, p-Tau levels, and larger thalamic volume were linked to a higher likelihood of a broad IA. These findings suggest that the IA may be involved in prodromal AD pathophysiological processes.

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注意间隙——前驱和临床阿尔茨海默病的丘脑间粘连。

背景：丘脑间粘连（IA）是连接左右丘脑的解剖桥梁。虽然之前的研究已经探讨了它在健康人群、中风、脑积水和精神分裂症中的患病率和功能，但还没有研究过IA在阿尔茨海默病（AD）中的作用。本研究旨在分析IA在阿尔茨海默病前驱至临床连续体中的患病率，并评估其与阿尔茨海默病脑脊液（CSF）生物标志物和丘脑、海马和心室容积的关系。方法：对来自阿尔茨海默病神经影像学倡议（ADNI）的542例mri患者进行IA患病率评估，包括健康对照（HC）、早期轻度认知障碍（EMCI）、晚期MCI （LMCI）和AD患者。评估者间信度采用Cohen’s Kappa法，卡方检验（χ2）检验评估者间差异。二元和多项logistic回归评估了脑脊液生物标志物、体积和临床数据对IA患病率和类型的影响。结果：四组间IA患病率或变异无显著差异。单IA是最常见的类型，而双叶型和双变异较少。然而，事后分析显示，AD CSF生物标志物测量与HC和EMCI中广泛的IA亚型呈正相关。结论：研究发现与前驱或临床AD相关的IA患病率或其变异没有总体差异。尽管如此，升高的a β42、p-Tau水平和更大的丘脑体积与广泛IA的可能性更高有关。这些发现提示IA可能参与了AD前驱的病理生理过程。

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

Brain Research Bulletin 医学-神经科学

CiteScore

6.90

自引率

2.60%

发文量

253

审稿时长

67 days

期刊介绍： The Brain Research Bulletin (BRB) aims to publish novel work that advances our knowledge of molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie neural network properties associated with behavior, cognition and other brain functions during neurodevelopment and in the adult. Although clinical research is out of the Journal''s scope, the BRB also aims to publish translation research that provides insight into biological mechanisms and processes associated with neurodegeneration mechanisms, neurological diseases and neuropsychiatric disorders. The Journal is especially interested in research using novel methodologies, such as optogenetics, multielectrode array recordings and life imaging in wild-type and genetically-modified animal models, with the goal to advance our understanding of how neurons, glia and networks function in vivo.