Federica Agosta1, Kristina Davidovic1, Nikola Kresojevic2, Lidia Sarro1, Marina Svetel2, Iva Stankovic2, Giancarlo Comi3, Vladimir S. Kostic2, Massimo Filippi1
1Neuroimaging Research Unit, Institute of Experimental Neurology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, Italy; 2Clinic of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Yugoslavia; 3Department of Neurology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, Italy
In this study, we investigated brain white matter (WM) damage in patients with Parkinsons disease (PD) carrying mutations in the gene encoding glucocerebrosidase (GBA) compared with idiopathic PD patients, at similar disease stage. GBA mutation PD carriers showed a damage to the genu of the corpus callosum and cingulum. PD patients without GBA mutations did not show significant diffusion tensor MRI abnormalities when compared with healthy controls. Future research will clarify whether WM damage in these patients may have an impact on the clinical phenotype, in particular on the development of cognitive impairment.