UNASSIGNED: R2* relaxometry of the brain is a quantitative magnetic resonance technique which is influenced by @entity68 and myelin content across different brain regions. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a common inflammatory, demyelinating disease affecting both white and grey matter regions of the CNS. Using R2*, increased @entity68 deposition has been described in deep gray matter of MS @entity1 . @entity68 accumulation might promote oxidative stress in the brain, which can lead to cell death and neurodegeneration. However, recent histological work indicates that @entity68 may be reduced within the normal appearing white matter (WM) in MS. In the present study we analyzed the R2* signal across the white matter in 39 @entity1 with MS, 31 asymptomatic age matched siblings of @entity1 and 30 age-matched controls. The measurement of R2* in white matter is affected by the signal's dependency on white matter fibre orientation with respect to the main magnetic field which can be accounted using diffusion tensor imaging. We observed a clear separation of the three study groups in R2*. The values in the MS group were significantly lower compared to the siblings and controls, while the siblings group presented with significantly higher R2* values than both unrelated healthy controls and @entity1 . Furthermore, we found significantly decreased normal-appearing white matter R2* values in @entity1 with more severe disease course. Angle resolved analysis of R2* improves the sensitivity for detecting subtle differences in WM R2* compared to standard histogram based analyses. Our findings suggest that the decreased R2* values in MS are due to diffuse tissue damage and decreased myelin in the normal appearing and diffusely abnormal WM. The increased R2* in unaffected siblings may identify a predisposition to increased @entity68 and the potential for oxidative stress as a risk factor for developing MS.

Orientation Dependent MR Signal Decay Differentiates between XXXX with MS, Their Asymptomatic Siblings and Unrelated Healthy Controls.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients'] @entity68 :: ('MESH:D007501', 'Chemical') :: ['iron', 'Iron']
@entity1 :: (9606,Species) :: ['People']
