INTRODUCTION Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a central nervous system disorder that may eventually affect its function. The clinical standard for MS severity is based on a clinical scale, which lacks lesion specific information. Magnetic resonance imaging of MS faces the challenge of myelin specificity, and in this work a new method inhomogeneous magnetization transfer (ihMT) is investigated as new biomarker of demyelination in MS. METHODS Local ethics committee approved this study and written informed consents were obtained. Between Oct 2017 to May 2018, eighteen patients with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) (6 males, 12 females, mean age 31.2) and sixteen healthy volunteers (6 males, 10 females, mean age 30.4 years) were enrolled in this prospective study. All subjects underwent MRI exams including MT and ihMT imaging as well as the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) assessments. Independent sample t-test were used to compare the difference of ihMT parameters between healthy white matter (HWM) and normal appearing white matter (NAWM) and between HWM and MS lesions, respectively. Spearman correlation were used to analyze the correlation between ihMT parameters of MS lesions and EDSS score. RESULTS The ihMTR and qihMT demonstrate significant differences between WHM and NAWM groups, while no significant differences are observed for MTR and qMT. All parameters show significant differences between HWM and MS groups (p < 0.05). There was moderate negative correlation between MTR, qMT and EDSS score (-0.440 and -0.572), while there was a strong negative correlation between ihMTR and qihMT and EDSS score (-0.704 and -0.739). CONCLUSION Based on whole brain analysis at 3.0 T, ihMT showed better correlation with EDSS compared to magnetization transfer imaging, and may be a potentially valuable biomarker for demyelination in MS.

中文翻译：

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基于3.0 T的全脑采集，对多发性硬化症中的不均匀磁化传递（ihMT）和磁化传递（MT）进行比较研究。

简介多发性硬化症（MS）是一种中枢神经系统疾病，可能最终影响其功能。MS严重程度的临床标准基于临床规模，缺乏病变特定信息。MS的磁共振成像面临着髓磷脂特异性的挑战，在这项工作中，研究了一种新的方法，非均质磁化转移（ihMT）作为MS中脱髓鞘的新生物标记。方法当地伦理委员会批准了本研究，并获得了知情同意书。在2017年10月至2018年5月之间，该前瞻性研究招募了18例复发缓解型MS（RRMS）患者（男6例，女12例，平均年龄31.2）和16名健康志愿者（男6例，女10例，平均年龄30.4岁）。 。所有受试者均接受MRI检查，包括MT和ihMT成像以及扩展的残疾状况量表（EDSS）评估。使用独立样本t检验比较健康白质（HWM）和正常出现白质（NAWM）以及HWM和MS病变之间ihMT参数的差异。Spearman相关性用于分析MS病变的ihMT参数与EDSS评分之间的相关性。结果ihMTR和qihMT表现出WHM和NAWM组之间的显着差异，而MTR和qMT没有显着差异。所有参数均显示HWM和MS组之间存在显着差异（p <0.05）。MTR，qMT和EDSS评分之间呈中等程度的负相关（-0.440和-0.572），而ihMTR与qihMT和EDSS评分之间存在很强的负相关性（-0.704和-0.739）。结论基于3.0 T的全脑分析，与磁化转移成像相比，ihMT与EDSS具有更好的相关性，并且可能是MS中脱髓鞘的潜在有价值的生物标记。