Background Cognitive impairment has received attention as an important problem in patients with end-stage renal disease, although end-stage renal disease patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism have not been studied. Purpose To assess the pattern of brain volume changes in end-stage renal disease patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism by using voxel-based morphometry and correlating these measures with clinical markers and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores. Material and Methods Fifty end-stage renal disease patients with no anatomical abnormalities in conventional MRI (25 patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism, 14 men, mean age 42.20 ± 7.53 years; 25 patients without secondary hyperparathyroidism, 15 men, mean age 41.96 ± 6.17 years) were selected in this study. All patients underwent laboratory tests, neuropsychological tests, and MRI. Voxel-based morphometry analysis was performed to detect regional gray matter volume differences between the two groups. The relationships between abnormal gray matter volume and clinical markers and Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores were investigated. Results Voxel-based morphometry revealed increased gray matter volume in end-stage renal disease patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism in the bilateral caudate and bilateral thalamus compared with non- secondary hyperparathyroidism end-stage renal disease patients ( P < 0.05, FWE corrected). Regarding the laboratory and neuropsychological tests, we found significant correlations between volume in these brain regions and intact parathyroid hormone levels and negative correlations with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores. There were no significant associations between brain volume changes and other clinical data (disease duration, urea, creatinine, and uric acid levels). Conclusion Our results showed significantly increased gray matter volume in end-stage renal disease patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism, which was associated with intact parathyroid hormone levels and cognitive impairment. Serum intact parathyroid hormone levels may be a risk factor for cognitive impairment in end-stage renal disease patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism.

KEYWORDS 2 end-stage renal disease, secondary hyperparathyroidism, structural connectivity, topological organization, network Abstract Objective: The burden of cognitive impairment in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) undergoing peritoneal dialysis has received more attention lately. It is associated with hospitalization, mortality and reduced quality of life. We aimed to assess the topological alterations of the brain white matter structural network in ESRD and the correlation between network metrics with Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores and clinical data. Methods: The study included 25 ESRD patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT group), 25 patients without SHPT (Non-SHPT group) and 25 healthy controls (HC group) of comparable age and sex. Cognitive function was assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. The WM structural network was constructed by diffusion tensorimaging and a deterministic tractography method, and then we used graph theoretical approaches to investigate alterations in the global and regional properties of the WM networks in these participants.Results: ESRD patients showed cognitive impairment compared to HC, and the SHPT patients had lower cognitive scores than the Non-SHPT patients. The global topological organization and local efficiency of the WM network was significantly disrupted in the SHPT but not in the Non-SHPT patients compared with the HC group. Moreover, lower regional efficiency was found in the ESRD patients, mainly distributed in the frontal and parietal cortices. In addition, an association was found between iPTH, shortest path length and cognitive impairment, and the iPTH level was negatively correlated with small-worldness by two indexes, the normalized clustering coefficient and the normalized shortest path length. Conclusion: The present study indicated that the brain structural connectome in ESRD patients with high iPTH levels was disrupted in association with cognitive impairment and it is a potential connectome-based biomarker for early detection.

Background: The burden of cognitive impairment in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) undergoing peritoneal dialysis has received more attention lately. It associates with hospitalization, mortality and poorer quality of life. We aimed to assess the topological alterations of the brain white matter structural network in ESRD and the correlation between network metrics with Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores and clinical data. Methods: The study included 25 ESRD patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT group), 25 patients without SHPT (Non-SHPT group) and 25 healthy controls (HC group) of comparable age and sex. Montreal Cognitive Assessment was used to assess the cognitive function. The white matter (WM) structural network was constructed by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) technique, and then we used graph theoretical approaches to detect changes in the global and regional properties of the WM networks in these participants through deterministic tractography method. Results: ESRD patients showed cognitive impairment compared to HC, and the SHPT patients had lower cognitive scores than the Non-SHPT patients. The global topological organization and local efficiency of the WM network was significantly disrupted in the SHPT but not in the Non-SHPT patients compared with the HC group. Moreover, lower regional efficiency was found in the ESRD patients, mainly distributed in the frontal and parietal cortices. In addition, an association was observed between intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH), shortest path length and cognitive impairment, and the iPTH level was negatively correlated with small-worldness by two indexes, the normalized clustering coefficient and the normalized shortest path length. Conclusion: The present study indicated that the brain structural connectome in ESRD patients with high iPTH levels was disrupted in association with cognitive impairment and it is a potential connectome-based biomarker for early detection.

Objective: The burden of cognitive impairment in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) undergoing peritoneal dialysis has received more attention lately. It is associated with hospitalization, mortality and poorer quality of life. We aimed to assess the topological alterations of the brain white matter structural network in ESRD and the correlation between network metrics with Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores and clinical data. Methods: The study included 25 ESRD patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT group), 25 patients without SHPT (Non-SHPT group) and 25 healthy controls (HC group) of comparable age and sex. Montreal Cognitive Assessment was used to assess the cognitive function. The WM structural network was constructed by DTI technique, and then we used graph theoretical approaches to detect changes in the global and regional properties of the WM networks in these participants through deterministic tractography method. Results: ESRD patients showed cognitive impairment compared to HC, and the SHPT patients had lower cognitive scores than the Non-SHPT patients. The global topological organization and local efficiency of the WM network was significantly disrupted in the SHPT but not in the Non-SHPT patients compared with the HC group. Moreover, lower regional efficiency was found in the ESRD patients, mainly distributed in the frontal and parietal cortices. In addition, an association was found between iPTH, shortest path length and cognitive impairment, and the iPTH level was negatively correlated with small-worldness by two indexes, the normalized clustering coefficient and the normalized shortest path length. Conclusion: The present study indicated that the brain structural connectome in ESRD patients with high iPTH levels was disrupted in association with cognitive impairment and it is a potential connectome-based biomarker for early detection.

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