Preliminary Assessment of Age-and Sex-Related Differences in Brain Volume Using Quantib™ Brain Quantification: A study in a Vietnamese Cohort

VU DANG LUU^1,2DO THI PHUONG LIEN³NGUYEN KHOI VIET¹NGUYEN HUU AN^1,4*NGUYEN QUANG ANH^1,2LE VAN KHANG^1,2NGUYEN NGOC TRANG¹VO HONG KHOI^1,2,5NGUYEN VAN HOANG¹NGUYEN CONG TIEN¹Laurent Pierot⁴

• ¹Bạch Mai Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam
• ²Hanoi Medical University, Hanoi, Red River Delta, Vietnam
• ³Dong Da Genal Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam, Hanoi, Vietnam
• ⁴Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Reims, Reims, Champagne-Ardenne, France
• ⁵Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Hanoi, Red River Delta, Vietnam

Objective: This study evaluates age-and sex-related differences in brain volume, including normalized gray matter (nGM), normalized white matter (nWM), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) volume, and total intracranial volume (TIV) in cognitively normal adults using automatic volume segmentation on 3.0 Tesla MRI.A prospective cross-sectional study conducted from Octobrer 2021 to Septembrer 2022 included 110 cognitively normal participants. They were divided into younger (18-35 years) and older (60-80 years) groups. Brain MRI were performed at Bach Mai Hospital, and volumetric analysis utilized automated segmentation software (Quantib TM Brain, GE Healthcare). Differences in brain volumes were analyzed by age and sex. Brain volume indices were successfully analyzed without technical issues in 108 out of 110 participants (98,2%). The younger group comprisedose a total of 57 participants (30 females, and 27 males; with mean age of 28 ranged from 18 to 35), and the older group comprisedose a total of 51 participants (32 females, and 19 males; with mean age of 66 ranged from 60 to 78). nGM was significantly higher in younger than older groups (p< 0.001), with no significant sex differences (p=0.51). nGM showed an inverse correlation with age in younger males (r=-0.56, p<0.001) and older males (r=-0.52; p=0.02), but not in females (p=0.77 in younger group and p=0.07 in older group). nWM was also higher in younger groups (p=0.02), with no significant sex differences (p=0.10) or correlation with age across all groups (p>0.05). CSF volume was significantly higher in males (p=0.001) and older groups (p<0.001). A positive correlation was noted between CSF volume and age in younger males (r=0.41; p=0.02), but not in other groups. TIV was higher in males (p<0.01) and in younger groups (p<0.001), with no correlation with age in any group (p>0.05).This preliminary study suggests potential age-and sex-related differences in brain volume indices among cognitively normal Vietnamese adults. Additional studies with larger and more representative populations are warranted to confirm and expand upon these findings.