Changes in choroid plexus volume in healthy adults during natural ageing

To investigate age- and sex-related changes in choroid plexus (CP) volume in healthy adults, as well as its association with the volumes of other brain regions, and explore the relationship of CP volume changes with degenerative brain alterations.

A total of 320 healthy subjects aged between 18 and 85 years were prospectively recruited in Physical Examination Center of First Affiliated Hospital to Army Medical University during August 2023 and February 2024. These participants were randomly divided into 7.0T and 3.0T groups, with 160 people in each group. After all of them underwent sagittal three-dimensional structural MPRAGE scans of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 3.0T or 7.0T, FreeSurfer 6.0 segmentation software was employed to obtain the volumes of CP and other brain regions automatically. Spearman analysis was applied to analyze the correlation of CP volume with age. Independent sample t-test analysis was applied to analyze the differences in CP volume between genders. Partial correlation analysis was performed to analyze the correlation between CP volume and the volumes of other brain regions.

A total of 311 subjects were included in the study. The results from both 3.0T and 7.0T MRI showed that CP volume was positively correlated with age (3.0T: r=0.462, P < 0.001; 7.0T: r=0.539, P < 0.001). The males had significantly larger CP volume than the females (3.0T: 1.4±0.47 vs 1.08±0.39 mL, P < 0.001; 7.0T: 2.43±0.68 vs 1.98±0.38 mL, P < 0.001). In addition, 3.0T MRI revealed there was a significant positive correlation of CP volume with the volumes of white matter hyperintensities (WMH) and cerebrospinal fluid (P < 0.001), as well as a negative correlation with the volumes of gray matter, white matter, hippocampus and thalamus (P < 0.05).

CP volume is increased with ageing, with gender differences, independent of field strength and resolution. CP volume is correlated with WMH, hippocampus and other brain regions, suggesting that increment in CP volume is involved in age-related degenerative changes in the brain. Changes in CP volume might be regarded as a new imaging marker for the neurodegenerative changes.