Clinical and radiological correlates of apathy in multiple sclerosis.

Background: Although apathy has been associated with fronto-striatal dysfunction in several neurological disorders, its clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) correlates have been poorly investigated in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS).
Objectives: To evaluate clinical variables and investigate microstructural integrity of fronto-striatal grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM) structures using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).
Methods: A total of 123 PwMS (age: 40.25 ± 11.5; female: 60.9%; relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: 75.6%) were prospectively enrolled and underwent neurological and neuropsychological evaluation, including Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES-S), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS) and brain 3T-MRI volumes of whole brain, frontal/prefrontal cortex (PFC) and subcortical regions were calculated. DTI-derived metrics were evaluated in the same GM regions and in connecting WM tracts.
Results: Apathetic PwMS (32.5%) showed lower education levels, higher HADS, MFIS scores and WM lesions volume than nonapathetic PwMS. Significant differences in DTI metrics were found in middle frontal, anterior cingulate and superior frontal PFC subregions and in caudate nuclei. Significant alterations were found in the right cingulum and left striatal-frontorbital tracts.
Conclusions: Apathy in PwMS is associated with higher levels of physical disability, depression, anxiety and fatigue together with lower educational backgrounds. Microstructural damage within frontal cortex, caudate and fronto-striatal WM bundles is a significant pathological substrate of apathy in multiple sclerosis (MS).
Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: M.I. received grants from NIH, NMSS and FISM; received fees for consultation from BMS; Janssen, Roche, Genzyme, Merck, Biogen and Novartis. M.C. received personal compensations from Novartis, Sanofi Genzyme and Teva and consulting fees from Zambon. G.B. was supported by a research fellowship FISM – Fondazione Italiana Sclerosi Multipla 2019/BR/016 and financed or co-financed with the ‘5 per mille’ public funding. He received personal fee from Novartis and Roche. C.L. received personal fee from Novartis, Roche, Sanofi, BMS and Janssen. All other authors declare no competing interests.