Sexual dimorphism in ALS: Exploring gender-specific neuroimaging signatures
Sexual dimorphism in ALS: Exploring gender-specific neuroimaging signatures
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DOI：
10.3109/21678421.2013.865749
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发表时间：
2014-06-01
影响因子：
2.8
通讯作者：
Hardiman, Orla
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Bede, Peter;Elamin, Marwa;Hardiman, Orla
我们的目的是探讨女性和男性ALS患者在健康对照中两性异形的神经解剖学差异。14名女性ALS患者、13名男性ALS患者、22名健康男性对照者和20名健康女性对照者被纳入一项全面的神经影像学研究。皮质厚度测量和弥散张量成像（DTI）用于探讨性别特异性解剖脆弱性。所有研究组的DTI分析显示，脑干、小脑、穹窿、丘脑、前产钳和皮质脊髓束的各向异性分数与男性性别有关，这与诊断和年龄有关。女性在右侧顶枕区和左侧额中区表现出较高的年龄调整皮质厚度的趋势，而男性在左侧舌区和左侧颞上区表现出较高的皮质厚度，这说明了诊断。在健康男性和女性对照组之间也发现了显著的多灶性白质差异。总之，性别二态性是混合ALS神经影像学研究中一个被忽视的潜在混淆因素。我们的研究结果表明，性别是ALS疾病异质性的另一个维度。考虑到显著的病前和病后性别差异，我们认为ALS影像学研究应该控制性别，或者，应该考虑单性别研究。
Our objective was to explore neuroanatomical differences between female and male ALS patients in the context of sexual dimorphism in healthy controls. Fourteen female ALS patients, 13 male ALS patients, 22 healthy male controls and 20 healthy female controls were recruited into a comprehensive neuroimaging study. Cortical thickness measurements and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) were utilized to explore gender-specific anatomical vulnerability. DTI analysis across all study groups revealed higher fractional anisotropy in association with male gender in the brainstem, cerebellum, fornix, thalamus, anterior forceps and corticospinal tracts accounting for diagnosis and age. While females showed a trend of higher age-adjusted cortical thickness in the right parieto-occipital and left mid-frontal regions, males demonstrated higher cortical thickness in the left lingual and left superior temporal regions, accounting for diagnosis. Significant multifocal white matter differences have also been identified between healthy male and female controls. In conclusion, sexual dimorphism is an overlooked and potentially confounding factor in admixed ALS neuroimaging studies. Our results suggest that gender is an additional dimension of disease heterogeneity in ALS. Given the significant pre- and post-morbid gender differences, we feel that ALS imaging studies should be controlled for gender or, alternatively, single gender studies should be considered.