Aquaporin 4 distribution in the brain and its relevance for the radiological appearance of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disease

Roxana Ameli (1) , Charles R.G. Guttmann (2) , Juan Carlos Prieto (2) , Fabien Rollot (3) , Miklos Palotai (2) , Sandra Vukusic (4) , Romain Marignier (5) , François Cotton (6) , René Anxionnat (7) , Jean-Paul Armspach (8) , Bertrand Audoin (9, 10) , Christian Barillot (11) , Isabelle Berry (12) , Fabrice Bonneville (13) , Claire Boutet (14) , Giovanni Castelnovo (15) , Frédéric Cervenanski (6) , Mikael Cohen (16) , Olivier Commowick (11) , Jerome de Seze (17) , Vincent Dousset (18) , Francoise Durand-Dubief (6) , Gilles Edan (11) , Jean-Christophe Ferré (11) , Damien Galanaud (15) , Tristan Glattard (6) , Sylvie Grand (19) , Justine Guillaumont (11) , Rémy Guillevin (20) , Salem Hannoun (6) , Fabrice Heitz (8) , Alexandre Krainik (19) , Stéphane Kremer (8) , Pierre Labauge (21) , Nicolas Menjot de Champfleur (22) , Jean-Philippe Ranjeva (9, 10) , Jean-Amédée Roch (23) , Dominique Sappey-Marinier (6) , Julien Savatovsky (24) , Bruno Stankoff (25) , Ayman Tourbah (26) , Thomas Tourdias (18) , Bruno Brochet (27) , Michel Clanet (28) , Nathalie Dufay (4) , David Laplaud (29) , Marie-Claire Maze (4) , Thibault Moreau (30) , Cédric Trolliet (3) , Bernard Frangoulis (31) , Javier Olaiz (31) , Jean Pelletier (9, 10) , Bertrand Bourre (32) , David Brassat (13) , Philippe Cabre (33) , Jean-Philippe Camdessanche (34) , William Camu (35) , Olivier Casez (36) , Pierre Clavelou (37) , Nicolas Collongues (38) , Alain Creange (39) , Gilles Defer (40) , Marc Debouverie (41) , Olivier Gout (24) , Christine Lebrun-Frenay (16) , Catherine Lubetzki (42) , Caroline Papeix (42) , Patrick Vermersch (43) , Hélène Zephir (43)

1 Service de Radiologie [Hôpital Femme Mère Enfant - HCL]
2 Department of Radiology [Boston]
3 OFSEP - Observatoire Français de la Sclérose En Plaques [Lyon]
4 Service de Neurologie [Lyon]
5 CRNL - Centre de recherche en neurosciences de Lyon - Lyon Neuroscience Research Center
6 CREATIS - Centre de Recherche en Acquisition et Traitement de l'Image pour la Santé
7 IADI - Imagerie Adaptative Diagnostique et Interventionnelle
8 ICube - Laboratoire des sciences de l'ingénieur, de l'informatique et de l'imagerie
9 CRMBM - Centre de résonance magnétique biologique et médicale
10 CEMEREM - Centre d'Exploration Métabolique par Résonance Magnétique [Hôpital de la Timone - AP-HM]
11 Empenn - Neuroimagerie: méthodes et applications
12 Service de Médecine Nucléaire - Pierre-Paul Riquet [CHU Toulouse]
13 Pôle Neurosciences [CHU Toulouse]
14 Service de radiologie [Saint-Etienne]
15 Service de Neuroradiologie [CHU Pitié-Salpêtrière]
16 Service de Neurologie [CHU Nice]
17 CHU Strasbourg
18 U1215 Inserm - UB - Neurocentre Magendie : Physiopathologie de la Plasticité Neuronale
19 Service de neuroradiologie [Grenoble]
20 CHU Poitiers - Centre hospitalier universitaire de Poitiers
21 Département de neurologie [Montpellier]
22 I2FH - Institut d’Imagerie Fonctionnelle Humaine [CHU Montpellier]
23 Hôpital privé Jean Mermoz [Lyon]
24 Hôpital Rothschild [AP-HP]
25 CHU Tenon [AP-HP]
26 URCA - Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne
27 Service de neurologie [Bordeaux]
28 Neurologie Vasculaire [Toulouse]
29 Service de neurochirurgie [Nantes]
30 Service de Neurologie générale, vasculaire et dégénérative (CHU de Dijon)
31 Fondation Eugène Devic EDMUS
32 Hôpital Charles Nicolle [Rouen]
33 Hôpital Albert Clarac [CHU de la Martinique]
34 Hôpital Nord (Saint Etienne)
35 IBC - Institut de Biologie Computationnelle
36 Département de neurologie
37 Service de Neurologie [CHU Clermont-Ferrand]
38 Hôpital de Hautepierre [Strasbourg]
39 CHU Henri Mondor - Département de neurosciences
40 Service de Neurologie [CHU Caen]
41 Service de neurologie [CHRU Nancy]
42 Service de Neurologie [CHU Pitié-Salpêtrière]
43 Département de neurologie [Lille]

Background and purposeTo determine the precise incidence of lesions at sites of high Aquaporin-4 expression (hAQP4) and their possible association with known neuromyelitis optica spectrum disease (NMOSD) lesions patterns.Materials and methodsA retrospective analysis of brain and, when available, spinal cord MRI scans of 54 NMOSD patients recruited among the French NMOSD cohort was performed. Brain lesions were annotated as MS-like, non-specific, or evocative of NMOSD. The topography of hAQP4 was reassessed by human brain atlas. The incidence of lesions in hAQP4 and their association with lesions evocative of NMOSD was estimated.ResultsAmong those included (41/54 female, mean age: 45 years) 47/54 (87%) presented brain lesions. Twenty-six/47 (55%) had lesions in hAQP4. Thirty-two/54 patients (60%) had lesions considered evocative of NMOSD. The majority of them also presented lesions in hAQP4 (65%, 21/32). Patients with lesions in hAQP4 and lesions evocative of NMOSD demonstrated more extensive myelitis compared to the other patients (7 [6–10] versus 4 [3–5] vertebral segments, P = 0.009).ConclusionThe coexistence of lesions evocative of NMOSD and in hAQP4 is associated with significantly more extensive myelitis, and might have pathophysiological and clinical significance.

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Bioengineering; Imaging

Roxana Ameli, Charles R.G. Guttmann, Juan Carlos Prieto, Fabien Rollot, Miklos Palotai, et al.. Aquaporin 4 distribution in the brain and its relevance for the radiological appearance of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disease. Journal de Neuroradiologie / Journal of Neuroradiology, 2021, 48 (3), pp.170-175. ⟨10.1016/j.neurad.2019.03.015⟩. ⟨hal-03538467⟩