Impairment of the intracranial lymphatic system in Parkinson’s disease: a combined study of the meningeal lymphatics vessels and glymphatic system based on noninvasive neuroimaging

作者：Mingxian Huang, Pan Zhang, Zhen Chen, Xiaoyan Wang, Hui Li, Shangwen Xu, Lan Li, Wenxi Zheng, Hui Xiao · 发表于：European journal of medical research · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1186/s40001-025-03048-7 · 被引用次数：3 · 研究领域：Cerebrospinal fluid and hydrocephalus、Spinal Dysraphism and Malformations、Neurological disorders and treatments

BACKGROUND: The role of intracranial lymphatic circulation in Parkinson's disease (PD) causes more and more concerns nowadays. The drainage function of meningeal lymphatic vessels (MLVs) and the clearance capability of the glymphatic system have been demonstrated to associate with development of PD. However, the underlying mechanisms remain inadequately elucidated. METHODS: 31 PD patients and 31 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HC) were recruited. Based on Hoehn-Yahr (H-Y) scale and clinical symptoms, the patients were divided into two subgroups: early PD (ePD) and advanced PD (aPD), and three subtypes: tremor-dominant PD (tPD), rigid-akinetic PD (rPD), and mixed tremor-dominant and rigid-akinetic PD (t-rPD). All subjects underwent professional clinical assessments and non-invasive MRI examinations. The volume of meningeal lymphatic vessels (MLVs) and diffusion tensor imaging analysis along perivascular spaces (DTI-ALPS) indices were calculated. The differences in MLVs volume and DTI-ALPS indices between the PD group and the HC group were analyzed, as well as their correlations with clinical parameters. RESULTS: The MLVs volume ratios of whole brain, left hemisphere, and right hemisphere in the PD group were all higher than those in the HC group (p = 0.002, p = 0.001 and p = 0.005, respectively). The PD group demonstrated significantly lower DTI-ALPS index in comparison with the HC group (t = 3.587, p = 0.001). Pairwise comparisons further revealed that DTI-ALPS index i...