Objective

Temporal lobe epilepsy patients (TLE) often present with hippocampal atrophy, increased T2 relaxation, and reduced magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) in magnetic resonance images (MRI). The histological correlates of the reduced MTR are so far unknown. Since MTR is dependent on the tissue’s macromolecules, our aim was to evaluate the correlations between cellular populations, extracellular matrix molecules and the MTR in TLE patients. Methods: Patients with TLE (n=26) and voluntaries (=20) were scanned in a 3 Tesla MRI scanner, and MTR images were calculated from 3DT1 sequences with magnetization pulse on resonance. Immunohistochemistry for neurons, reactive astrocytes, activated microglia, and extracellular matrix chondroitin sulfate were performed in formalin fixed, paraffin embedded tissues of TLE and autopsy controls (n=10). Results were considered significant with adjusted p<0.05. Results: Compared to the respective controls, TLE patients had reduced hippocampal MTR, increased reactive astrocytes and activated microglia, increased extracellular chondroitin sulfate, and reduced neuron density, compares to controls. MTR correlated positively with neuron density in CA3 and with chondroitin sulfate in CA3 and CA1. Multiple linear regressions reinforced the correlations between chondroitin sulfate and MTR. Significance: Our data indicate that extracellular matrix molecules are the most significant histological correlates of magnetization transfer ratio in the hippocampus of TLE patients.

中文翻译：

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耐药性颞叶癫痫患者海马磁化转移图像的组织学相关性

目的

颞叶癫痫患者（TLE）经常表现为海马萎缩，T2弛豫增加以及磁共振图像（MRI）中的磁化传递比（MTR）降低。到目前为止，降低的MTR的组织学相关性尚不清楚。由于MTR依赖于组织的大分子，因此我们的目的是评估TLE患者的细胞数量，细胞外基质分子与MTR之间的相关性。方法：在3台Tesla MRI扫描仪中扫描TLE（n = 26）和自愿者（= 20）的患者，并通过3DT1序列在共振时通过磁化脉冲来计算MTR图像。在TLE和尸检对照（n = 10）的福尔马林固定，石蜡包埋组织中进行了神经元，反应性星形胶质细胞，活化的小胶质细胞和细胞外基质硫酸软骨素的免疫组织化学。调整后的p <0.05被认为是有意义的。结果：与对照组相比，TLE患者的海马MTR降低，反应性星形胶质细胞和活化的小胶质细胞增多，细胞外硫酸软骨素增加，神经元密度降低。MTR与CA3中的神经元密度以及CA3和CA1中的硫酸软骨素呈正相关。多元线性回归加强了硫酸软骨素与MTR之间的相关性。意义： 我们的数据表明，细胞外基质分子是TLE患者海马中磁化转移率的最重要组织学相关因素。