TY - JOUR
T1 - Age-dependent association of thyroid function with brain morphology and microstructural organization
T2 - Evidence from brain imaging
AU - Chaker, Layal
AU - Cremers, Lotte G M
AU - Korevaar, Tim I.M.
AU - De Groot, Marius
AU - Dehghan, Abbas
AU - Franco, Oscar H.
AU - Niessen, Wiro J.
AU - Ikram, M. Arfan
AU - Peeters, Robin P.
AU - Vernooij, Meike W.
PY - 2018/1/1
Y1 - 2018/1/1
N2 - Thyroid hormone (TH) is crucial during neurodevelopment, but high levels of TH have been linked to neurodegenerative disorders. No data on the association of thyroid function with brain imaging in the general population are available. We therefore investigated the association of thyroid-stimulating hormone and free thyroxine (FT4) with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-derived total intracranial volume, brain tissue volumes, and diffusion tensor imaging measures of white matter microstructure in 4683 dementia- and stroke-free participants (mean age 60.2, range 45.6–89.9 years). Higher FT4 levels were associated with larger total intracranial volumes (β = 6.73 mL, 95% confidence interval = 2.94–9.80). Higher FT4 levels were also associated with larger total brain and white matter volumes in younger individuals, but with smaller total brain and white matter volume in older individuals (p-interaction 0.02). There was a similar interaction by age for the association of FT4 with mean diffusivity on diffusion tensor imaging (p-interaction 0.026). These results are in line with differential effects of TH during neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative processes and can improve the understanding of the role of thyroid function in neurodegenerative disorders.
AB - Thyroid hormone (TH) is crucial during neurodevelopment, but high levels of TH have been linked to neurodegenerative disorders. No data on the association of thyroid function with brain imaging in the general population are available. We therefore investigated the association of thyroid-stimulating hormone and free thyroxine (FT4) with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-derived total intracranial volume, brain tissue volumes, and diffusion tensor imaging measures of white matter microstructure in 4683 dementia- and stroke-free participants (mean age 60.2, range 45.6–89.9 years). Higher FT4 levels were associated with larger total intracranial volumes (β = 6.73 mL, 95% confidence interval = 2.94–9.80). Higher FT4 levels were also associated with larger total brain and white matter volumes in younger individuals, but with smaller total brain and white matter volume in older individuals (p-interaction 0.02). There was a similar interaction by age for the association of FT4 with mean diffusivity on diffusion tensor imaging (p-interaction 0.026). These results are in line with differential effects of TH during neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative processes and can improve the understanding of the role of thyroid function in neurodegenerative disorders.
KW - Brain microstructural organization
KW - Brain morphology
KW - Diffusion tensor imaging
KW - Thyroid function
UR - http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:1995217f-62a8-4535-a68d-80dad116a463
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85034818290&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2017.09.014
DO - 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2017.09.014
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85034818290
SN - 0197-4580
VL - 61
SP - 44
EP - 51
JO - Neurobiology of Aging: age-related phenomena, neurodegeneration and neuropathology
JF - Neurobiology of Aging: age-related phenomena, neurodegeneration and neuropathology
ER -