ArticleMultiple sclerosis and related disorders2022
White matter tracts that overlap with the thalamus and the putamen are protected against multiple sclerosis pathology.
Article in Multiple sclerosis and related disorders, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
- Disrupted and reorganized connectivity of brain networks in multiple sclerosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of resting-state functional MRI.Journal of neurology · 2026Pooled it
- Functional Connectivity Alterations of the Central Autonomic Network in Multiple Sclerosis: Links to Fatigue and Aerobic Training Effects.Neurology(R) neuroimmunology & neuroinflammation · 2026Article
- Network-based disease fingerprinting with neuroinflammation PET imaging.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2026Article
- Dynamic Analysis of Gray Matter and White Matter Functional Network Connectivity in Individuals with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.Research square · 2026Article
- Network-based disease fingerprinting with neuroinflammation PET imaging.Research square · 2025Article
- Association of decreased thalamic neurotransmitter level with sensorimotor tract damage in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery · 2025Article
- Aberrant white matter and subcortical gray matter functional network connectivity associated with static and dynamic characteristics in subjects with temporal lobe epilepsy.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Article
- Hub overload and failure as a final common pathway in neurological brain network disorders.Network neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2024Review
- Transcallosal and Corticospinal White Matter Disease and Its Association With Motor Impairment in Multiple Sclerosis.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe thalamus and the putamen are highly connected hubs implicated in multiple sclerosis (MS) pathology. It remains unclear if white matter (WM) tracts, which pass through them, have a different susceptibility to MS pathology, and if so, if their impact on disability predominates over that exerted by disease in other WM tracts. We hypothesized that WM tracts connected to and passing through these hubs (subsequently termed hub+ tracts) would be more susceptible to MS-related pathology than tracts that do not pass through them (hub- tracts) due to retrograde and anterograde distant degeneration. Thus, we compared the lesion load and neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) derived metrics between hub+ and hub- tracts and assessed the relationship between these MRI metrics and those of physical impairment.
methodsEighteen patients (mean age of 45.5 years, 12 females) had 3 Tesla MRI consisting of T1-weighted and T2-weighted Fluid Attenuated Inversion Recovery (FLAIR), and NODDI from which the orientation dispersion index (ODI), neurite density index (NDI), and isotropic volume fraction (IVF) were derived. Forty-nine WM tracts, i.e., 12 hub+ and 37 hub- tracts, were segmented out. Exploratory analyses of the differences in lesion burden, whole tract and normal appearing WM (NAWM) NODDI metrics were carried out between the two types of tracts using a Mann-Whitney U test. Correlations with physical impairment, quantified using the expanded disability status scale (EDSS) and timed 25-foot walk (T25FW) test were assessed using Spearman correlation analyses.
resultsHub- tracts had larger T1- (p<0.001) and T2-lesion (p<0.001) volumes; lower ODI (p<0.001), NDI (p<0.001) and higher IVF (p = 0.020) in comparison to hub+ tracts. Measures of tissue injury in hub+ tracts correlated with those of clinical disability, though less strongly than in hub- tracts.
conclusionsContrary to our hypothesis, our exploratory pilot study results suggest that WM tracts that overlap with the thalamus and the putamen have a lower degree of lesional and non-lesional tissue injury, suggesting a protective role of the hubs against MS pathology or a higher degree of vulnerability of those not passing through hub stations. We also show a weaker association between disability impairment and hub+ pathology, compared to that in hub- tracts. Our findings point to a potential role of disease location in relation to hubs as guidance for treatment personalization in MS.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.