Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with abnormal accumulations of hyperphosphorylated tau and amyloid-β proteins, resulting in unique patterns of atrophy in the brain. We aimed to elucidate some characteristics of the AD's morphometric networks constructed by associating different morphometric features among brain areas and evaluating their relationship to Mini-Mental State Examination total score and age. Three-dimensional T1-weighted (3DT1) image data scanned by the same 1.5T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were obtained from 62 AD patients and 41 healthy controls (HCs) and were analysed by using FreeSurfer. The associations of the extracted six morphometric features between regions were estimated by correlation coefficients. The global and local graph theoretical measures for this network were evaluated. Associations between graph theoretical measures and age, sex and cognition were evaluated by multiple regression analysis in each group. Global measures of integration: global efficiency and mean information centrality were significantly higher in AD patients. Local measures of integration: node global efficiency and information centrality were significantly higher in the entorhinal cortex, fusiform gyrus and posterior cingulate cortex of AD patients but only in the left hemisphere. All global measures were correlated with age in AD patients but not in HCs. The information centrality was associated with age in AD's broad brain regions. Our results showed that altered morphometric networks due to AD are left-hemisphere dominant, suggesting that AD pathogenesis has a left–right asymmetry. Ageing has a unique impact on the morphometric networks in AD patients. The information centrality is a sensitive graph theoretical measure to detect this association.

中文翻译：

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阿尔茨海默病中异常的形态测量网络具有半球不对称性和年龄依赖性

阿尔茨海默病 (AD) 与过度磷酸化 tau 蛋白和淀粉样蛋白 -β 蛋白的异常积累有关，导致大脑出现独特的萎缩模式。我们的目的是阐明 AD 形态测量网络的一些特征，该网络通过关联大脑区域之间的不同形态测量特征并评估它们与简易精神状态检查总分和年龄的关系而构建。通过相同的 1.5T 磁共振成像 (MRI) 扫描获得 62 名 AD 患者和 41 名健康对照 (HC) 的三维 T1 加权 (3DT1) 图像数据，并使用 FreeSurfer 进行分析。通过相关系数估计区域之间提取的六个形态特征的关联。评估了该网络的全局和局部图理论测量。通过每组的多元回归分析评估图论测量与年龄、性别和认知之间的关联。整体整合措施：AD 患者的整体效率和平均信息中心性显着更高。局部整合测量：AD 患者的内嗅皮层、梭状回和后扣带皮层的节点全局效率和信息中心性显着较高，但仅在左半球。所有总体指标均与 AD 患者的年龄相关，但与 HC 患者的年龄无关。信息中心性与 AD 广泛大脑区域的年龄相关。我们的结果表明，AD 引起的形态测量网络改变是左半球主导，这表明 AD 发病机制具有左右不对称性。衰老对 AD 患者的形态测量网络有独特的影响。信息中心性是检测这种关联的敏感图论度量。