Using DECOMPOSE-QSM reveals dopaminergic and nigrostriatal degeneration in patients, indicating potential biomarkers.
Motivation: To assess neurodegeneration in prodromal-to-overt alpha-synucleinopathies with a non-invasive MRI examination. Goal(s): To investigate whether MRI-based paramagnetic and diamagnetic susceptibility components can assess dopaminergic and nigrostriatal degeneration. Approach: DECOMPOSE-QSM was used to identify susceptibility component changes in prodromal and overt alpha-synucleinopathies. Correlations between susceptibility components and single photon emission tomography (SPECT)-scores were investigated. Results: Substantia nigra iron accumulation occurs in prodromal alpha-synucleinopathies alongside dopaminergic pathway degeneration identified by SPECT. Substantia nigra paramagnetic component susceptibility and putamen diamagnetic component susceptibility correlate with dopaminergic pathway degeneration. Impact: Paramagnetic and diamagnetic component susceptibility correlate with DaT-SPECT Z-scores in the substantia nigra and putamen. Source-separated magnetic susceptibility holds promise as a biomarker for assessing the degeneration of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathway, key for evaluating prodromal and overt alpha-synucleinopathies.
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Kiersnowski et al. (2025) studied this question.
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