The aging-liked alterations in Cushing's disease: A neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) study

Purpose Glucocorticoid (GC) is probably related to biological aging, but the exact mechanism remains unknown. Cushing's disease (CD) could represent a unique human model for examining the effects of prolonged exposure to hypercortisolism and its relationship with aging. Thus, we studied the alterations of neurites in CD patients with Neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI). Methods CD patients (n = 15) and healthy control subjects (n = 15) were included in this study. Orientation dispersion index (Odi), neurite density index (Ndi), partial fraction of free water (fiso), partial fraction of extracellular water (fec) were examined in a cross-sectional analysis. Results Significant altered NODDI parameters were found in CD patients. Some of these alterations were correlated with current age. Additionally, increased dendritic density was found in cerebellar of CD patients. Conclusion Hypercortisolism relative reductions of the dendritic density were correlated with current age in several regions of CD patients. Our study enhances the understanding of the link between the aging and GC.