Reduced glucose metabolism in the frontal cortex and basal ganglia of multiple sclerosis patients with fatigue: a 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography study

To investigate the pathophysiology of fatigue in MS, we assessed cerebral glucose metabolism (CMR-Glu) in 47 MS patients using PET and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose. Applying the Fatigue Seventy Scale (FSS), we first compared MS patients with severe fatigue (MS-FAT, n = 19, FSS > 4.9) and MS patients without fatigue (MS-NOF, n = 16, FSS < 3.7) on a pixel-by-pixel basis using Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM95). Second, we compared FSS values of all 47 patients covering the whole range of this scale with CMRGlu using an analysis of covariance (SPM95). In addition, we determined global CMRGlu by region-of-interest analysis. Sixteen healthy subjects served as control subjects (CON). Global CMRGlu was significantly lower in both MS groups compared with CON (CON 43.3 ± 6.9 μmol/100 mL/min, MS-FAT 34.7 ± 4.4, MS-NOF 35.4 ± 4.5) but was not related to fatigue severity. Comparing the two MS groups, SPM95 analysis revealed predominant CMRGlu reductions bilaterally in a prefrontal area involving the lateral and medial prefrontal cortex and adjacent white matter, in the premotor cortex, putamen, and in the right supplementary motor area of MS-FAT. In addition, there were CMRGlu reductions in the white matter extending from the rostral putamen toward the lateral head of the caudate nucleus. FSS values were inversely related to CMRGlu in the right prefrontal cortex. CMRGlu in the cerebellar vermis and anterior cingulate was relatively higher in MS-FAT than in MS-NOF patients. CMRGlu of both regions showed positive correlations with FSS values. Our data suggest that fatigue in MS is associated with frontal cortex and basal ganglia dysfunction that could result from demyelination of the frontal white matter.