Regional cortical hypoperfusion and atrophy correlate with striatal dopaminergic loss in Parkinson's disease: a study using arterial spin labeling MR perfusion

To investigate the relationship of the striatal dopamine transporter density to changes in the gray matter (GM) volume and cerebral perfusion in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD).We evaluated the regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) and GM volume, concurrently measured using arterial spin labeling and T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging, respectively, as well as the striatal specific binding ratio (SBR) inSPM analysis showed a significant positive correlation between the SBR and GM volume in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). Whereas, a positive correlation between the SBR and CBF was widely found in the frontotemporal and parietotemporal regions, including the IFG. Notably, the opercular part of the IFG showed significant correlations in both SPM analyses of the GM volume (rThe voxel-wise analyses revealed the brain regions, mainly the IFG, that showed hypoperfusion and atrophy related to dopaminergic loss, which suggests that the progression of dopaminergic neurodegeneration leads to regional cortical dysfunction in PD.