In vivo mapping of sodium homeostasis disturbances in individual ALS patients: a brain 23Na MRI study

Motivation: ALS is a neurodegenerative disease leading to progressive motor deficit and death within few years. There is an unmet need to identify non-invasive biomarkers at the individual level to predict disease progression. Goal(s): To study disease severity at the individual level in ALS by mapping abnormal sodium homeostasis using brain 23Na-MRI. Approach: 27 ALS patients were explored by brain 23Na-MRI. Individual map of abnormal total sodium concentration (TSC) was computed for each patient compared to a local database of 62 controls. Results: This study mapping sodium homeostasis disturbances at the individual level in ALS patients evidenced association between TSC increase and disease severity. Impact: This pilot study mapping sodium homeostasis disturbances at the individual level in ALS patients through 23Na-MRI evidenced association between TSC increase and disease severity and may be a future biomarker to help stratifying patients and evaluating new therapeutics.