Age-related decrease in collagen proton fraction in tibial tendons estimated by magnetization transfer modeling of ultrashort echo time magnetic resonance imaging (UTE-MRI)
Age-related decrease in collagen proton fraction in tibial tendons estimated by magnetization transfer modeling of ultrashort echo time magnetic resonance imaging (UTE-MRI)
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DOI：
10.1038/s41598-019-54559-3
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发表时间：
2019-11-29
影响因子：
4.6
通讯作者：
Chang, Eric Y.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Jerban, Saeed;Ma, Yajun;Chang, Eric Y.
临床磁共振成像（MRI）序列通常不能直接显示肌腱。超短回波时间（UTE）MRI可以从肌腱获取高信号，从而实现定量评估。磁化传递（MT）建模结合UTE-MRI-UTE-MT-modeling-可以间接评估肌腱中的大分子质子。本研究旨在确定UTE-MT建模是否是一种对肌腱年龄相关变化敏感的定量技术。在3 T MRI扫描仪上使用UTE序列对26名年轻健康（29 +/- 6岁）和22名老年（75 +/- 8岁）女性受试者的腿部进行成像。获得了机构审查委员会的批准，所有招募的受试者都提供了书面知情同意书。T1和UTE-MT-建模进行胫骨前肌腱（ATT）和胫骨后肌腱（PTT）作为两个代表性的人腿肌腱。使用一系列MT脉冲饱和功率（500-1500度）和频率偏移（2-50 kHz）来测量大分子分数（MMF）和大分子T2（T2（MM））。所有测量均由三名独立读数员重复进行，以进行重现性研究。与年轻队列相比，老年队列中的平均MMF值显著更低，ATT（降低16.8%，p = 0.03）和PTT（降低23.0%，p < 0.01）。T2（MM）和T1未显示出年轻和老年队列之间的显著差异或一致差异。对于所有MRI参数，组内相关系数（ICC）均高于0.98，表明独立阅片师进行的测量之间具有良好的一致性。作为胶原蛋白含量的替代指标，MMF显示老年人腿部肌腱显著减少。这项研究强调了UTE-MRI-MT技术作为一种有用的定量方法来评估老化对人体肌腱的影响。
Clinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences are not often capable of directly visualizing tendons. Ultrashort echo time (UTE) MRI can acquire high signal from tendons thus enabling quantitative assessments. Magnetization transfer (MT) modeling combined with UTE-MRI-UTE-MT-modeling-can indirectly assess macromolecular protons in the tendon. This study aimed to determine if UTE-MT-modeling is a quantitative technique sensitive to the age-related changes of tendons. The legs of 26 young healthy (29 +/- 6 years old) and 22 elderly (75 +/- 8 years old) female subjects were imaged using UTE sequences on a 3T MRI scanner. Institutional review board approval was obtained, and all recruited subjects provided written informed consent. T1 and UTE-MT-modeling were performed on anterior tibialis tendons (ATT) and posterior tibialis tendons (PTT) as two representative human leg tendons. A series of MT pulse saturation powers (500-1500 degrees) and frequency offsets (2-50 kHz) were used to measure the macromolecular fraction (MMF) and macromolecular T2 (T2(MM)). All measurements were repeated by three independent readers for a reproducibility study. MMF demonstrated significantly lower values on average in the elderly cohort compared with the younger cohort for both ATT (decreased by 16.8%, p = 0.03) and PTT (decreased by 23.0%, p < 0.01). T2(MM) and T1 did not show a significant nor a consistent difference between the young and elderly cohorts. For all MRI parameters, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was higher than 0.98, indicating excellent consistency between measurements performed by independent readers. MMF serving as a surrogate measure for collagen content, showed a significant decrease in elderly leg tendons. This study highlighted UTE-MRI-MT techniques as a useful quantitative method to assess the impact of aging on human tendons.