Impact of Metabolic Syndrome on the White Matter Integrity in Alzheimer's Disease Patients : Tract-Based Spatial Statistics Study under 3-Tesla MRI

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to determine whether there is any difference in white matter (WM) integrity between Alzheimer's disease (AD) with metabolic syndrome (MetS) and without MetS. METHODS: Altogether, 30 subjects were finally recruited from the Memory Impairment Clinics of Pusan National University Hospital in Korea. All subjects (AD with MetS n=15, matched AD without MetS for age, gender and year of education n=15) were underwent 3-tesla magnetic resonance imaging scans of diffusion tensor imaging. RESULTS: The mean fractional anisotropy of the AD with MetS was lower (p<0.05) in right posterior corona radiate, right corticospinal tract and right superior longitudinal fasciculus than that of the AD without MetS. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that WM integrity damage.