Volumetric alterations of hippocampal and amygdala subfields in Azheimer’s disease

作者：Qi Feng, Zhehao Zhang, Fengyi Dai, Yan Chen, Zhongxiang Ding, Luoyu Wang · 发表于：BMC Medical Imaging · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1186/s12880-025-01923-7 · 被引用次数：2 · 研究领域：Epilepsy research and treatment、Cerebrospinal fluid and hydrocephalus、Fetal and Pediatric Neurological Disorders

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have shown that patients with Azheimer's disease (AD) or amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) have atrophy in the hippocampus and amygdala. However, there are few MRI studies that have jointly analyzed the volumes of the 19 hippocampal subfields and the 9 amygdala subfields. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, we used the method of analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) to analyze the volume differences of hippocampal and amygdala subfields among three groups of 40 normal control (NC), 40 aMCI and 53 AD, and conducted correlation analysis between these subfield volumes with significant differences and the overall cognitive scores. RESULTS: Our volumetric analyses revealed significant atrophy in 16 hippocampal subfields among three groups. However, no significant volume loss was observed in the amygdalar subfields after rigorous multiple-testing correction. Interestingly, the atrophy was mainly concentrated in the right hemisphere. In addition, our study also found that the volume of some subfields of the hippocampus was significantly positively correlated with MMSE and MoCA scores. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that volume reduction in some hippocampus subfields may serve as a biomarker reflecting cognitive decline in patients with AD and aMCI.