An MRI technique can detect patterns of iron accumulation in the brain – and is showing promise as a way of diagnosing Parkinson’s disease, researchers report today.
The research, which was led by researchers at University College London, UK, means that measuring the amount of brain iron could help to determine which people with Parkinson’s will develop dementia.
There are no reliable measures currently to track Parkinson’s progression in the brain, which means doctors have to rely on monitoring symptoms, while conventional brain imaging does not track progression until large-scale brain volume loss can be detected.
In this study, researchers tested 97 people with Parkinson’s disease, who had been diagnosed within the last 10 years, and a control group of 37 people without the condition, for their thinking and memory as well as for their motor function.
Quantitative susceptibility mapping was used to map iron levels in the brain based on MRI scans and researchers found that iron accumulation in the hippocampus and thalamus regions was associated with poor memory and thinking scores. Iron in the putamen region was associated with poor movement scores, which suggested the disease was a more advanced stage.
The findings, published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, suggest that iron deposition might eventually be helpful for early diagnosis of Parkinson’s or other neurodegenerative diseases.
Co-author Dr Julio Acosta-Cabronero, of Tenoke Ltd. and Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL, said: "We were surprised at how well the iron levels measured in different regions of the brain with MRI were correlated with cognitive and motor skills.
"We hope that brain iron measurement could be useful for a wide range of conditions, such as to gauge dementia severity or to see which brain regions are affected by other movement, neuromuscular and neuroinflammatory disorders, stroke, traumatic brain injury and drug abuse.”
The researchers are now following up the study participants to see how their disease is progressing, whether they develop dementia, and how such measures correlate with changes in iron levels over time.
Thomas G, Leyland LA, Schrag A et al. Brain iron deposition is linked with cognitive severity in Parkinson’s disease. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry. 21 February 2020. doi: 10.1136/jnnp-2019-322042.
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