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SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE · MED

Nigral volume loss in prodromal, early, and moderate Parkinson's disease.

NPJ Parkinsons Dis · 2025-06-21

DOI: 10.1038/s41531-025-00976-3PMID: 40544165

Open accessresearch-article; Journal ArticleOriginal source ↗

Research overview

The text below is the source article’s original abstract under a verified reuse license. cc by

The loss of melanized neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) is a hallmark pathology in Parkinson's disease (PD). Melanized neurons in SNc can be visualized in vivo using magnetization transfer (MT) effects. Nigral volume was extracted in data acquired with a MT-prepared gradient echo sequence in 50 controls, 90 non-manifest carriers (46 LRRK2 and 44 GBA1 nonmanifest carriers), 217 prodromal hyposmic participants, 76 participants with rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD), 194 de novo PD patients and 26 moderate PD patients from the Parkinson's Progressive Markers Initiative. No difference in nigral volume was seen between controls and LRRK2 and GBA1 non-manifest carriers (F = 0.732; P = 0.483). A significant main effect in group was observed between controls, prodromal hyposmic participants, RBD participants, and overt PD patients (F = 9.882; P -3). This study shows that nigral depigmentation can be robustly detected in prodromal and overt PD populations.

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