2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Diagnosis of neurological diseases using glymphatic system and Oxidative stress MRI imaging.

Research Project

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Project/Area Number	18K08982
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Section	一般
Review Section	Basic Section 56010:Neurosurgery-related
Research Institution	Meiji University of Integrative Medicine
Principal Investigator	Higuchi Toshihiro 明治国際医療大学, 臨床医学講座, 教授 (80218700)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	梅田雅宏明治国際医療大学, 医学教育研究センター, 教授 (60223608) 田中忠蔵明治国際医療大学, 医学教育研究センター, 名誉教授 (80163541) 渡邉康晴明治国際医療大学, 医学教育研究センター, 准教授 (90454537) 河合裕子明治国際医療大学, 医学教育研究センター, 助教 (90555616) 萬代綾子明治国際医療大学, 臨床医学講座, 助教 (20769343) 村瀬智一明治国際医療大学, 医学教育研究センター, 客員助教 (00708943)
Project Period (FY)	2018-04-01 – 2024-03-31
Keywords	MRI / glymphatic system
Outline of Final Research Achievements	It has been revealed that the glymphatic system plays an important role in the transport and clearance of water and metabolic substrates in brain tissue. Dysfunction of this system has been reported to cause Alzheimer's disease, traumatic brain injury, and hydrocephalus, and it has also been implicated in Parkinson's disease and ALS. Focusing on the perivascular Virchow-Robin spaces, the movement of cerebrospinal fluid within the brain was measured. The velocity of cerebrospinal fluid movement was triggered by pulse waves, and the pulsations of arteries near the region of interest were observed. Diffusion-weighted imaging was used to calculate ADC in two phases. For the evaluation of neural tissue, neuroamino acids were measured using MRS, and their metabolic maps were utilized for assessment. Additionally, brain functional activity was evaluated with fMRI. Methodological and technical improvements were achieved, such as the separation and identification of spectra.
Free Research Field	脳神経外科
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	β-amyloidやタウ蛋白、α-synucleinなどの脳内異常蓄積が種々の神経疾患の原因となることは知られていたが、代謝異常ではなくグリンパティックシステムの機能異常に起因する物質の排泄障害が原因となるという新たな概念が導入され、パーキンソン病、ALSとの関連も指摘されている。非侵襲的に画像評価や機能評価が可能なMRIはグリンパティックシステムの異常のような急激な組織変化を伴わない機能的変化を検出するにあたって有用な技術であり、病態解析を行うことができる評価方法の確立が望まれる。