Altered mean apparent propagator-based microstructure and the corresponding functional connectivity of the parahippocampus and thalamus in Crohn’s disease

Abstract

Crohn’s disease (CD) is a chronic and relapsing inflammatory bowel disorder that has been shown to generate neurological impairments, which has the potential to signify disease activity in an underlying neurological manner. The objective of this study was to investigate the abnormalities of brain microstructure and the corresponding functional connectivity (FC) in patients with CD, as well as their associations with disease condition. Twenty-two patients with CD and 22 age-, gender-, and education-matched healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled in this study. All subjects underwent mean apparent propagator (MAP)-MRI and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (rs-fMRI) data collection. Each patient was evaluated clinically for the condition and duration of the disease. The MAP metrics were extracted and compared between two groups. Pearson’s correlation analysis was conducted to determine the relationship between disease characteristics and significantly abnormal MAP metrics in the CD group. Regions of interest (ROIs) for ROI-wise FC analysis were selected based on their correlation with MAP metrics. Results showed that multiple brain regions, including the parahippocampus and thalamus, exhibited statistically significant differences in MAP metrics between CD patients and HCs. Additionally, CD patients exhibited decreased FC between the left parahippocampus and bilateral thalamus, as well as the right parahippocampus and bilateral thalamus. The findings of this work provide preliminary evidence that structural abnormalities in the parahippocampal gyrus (PHG) and thalamus, as well as decreased FC between them, may reflect the degree of inflammatory of the disease and serve as brain biomarkers for evaluating CD activity.

Altered resting-state brain functional activities and networks in Crohn’s disease: a systematic review

“…The FC, between the left superior frontal gyrus and the left precentral, middle temporal gyri, left ACC, left postcentral, middle frontal gyri, inferior frontal orbital cortex, and the right rolandic operculum, were found to be increased ( Li L. et al, 2021 ), compared to the HCs. Qiu et al (2022) found decreased FC between the left parahippocampus and bilateral thalamus, as well as the right parahippocampus and bilateral thalamus in CD patients. Taking left dorsal anterior insula and bilateral posterior insula as ROIs, Zhang et al (2022) found insula-related FC differences were mainly located in the MCC, SMA, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), caudate, ACC, S1, amygdala, and the parahippocampus/hippocampus, compared to the HCs.…”

Associations of prior concussion severity with brain microstructure using mean apparent propagator magnetic resonance imaging

“…MAP-MRI metrics have been shown to be sensitive to microstructural changes in brain tissues in various neurological conditions and neurodevelopment (Bouhrara et al, 2022;C.-L. Chen, Shih, et al, 2019;H.-J. Chen et al, 2021;Le et al, 2020;Ma et al, 2020;Moody et al, 2022;Mustafi et al, 2019;Pines et al, 2020;Qiu et al, 2022;Sun et al, 2022;Wang, He, et al, 2022;Wang, Deng, et al, 2022;Xie et al, 2022), with one study documenting an association between RTOP and clinical measures in mTBI patients assessed within 15 days of injury (Y.-C. Wu et al, 2018). To our knowledge, however, no prior work has applied the MAP-MRI technique to investigate the longterm effects of concussion.…”

“…Chen, Shih, et al, 2019 ; H.‐J. Chen et al, 2021 ; Le et al, 2020 ; Ma et al, 2020 ; Moody et al, 2022 ; Mustafi et al, 2019 ; Pines et al, 2020 ; Qiu et al, 2022 ; Sun et al, 2022 ; Wang, Gao, et al, 2022 ; Wang, He, et al, 2022 ; Wang, Deng, et al, 2022 ; Xie et al, 2022 ), with one study documenting an association between RTOP and clinical measures in mTBI patients assessed within 15 days of injury (Y.‐C. Wu et al, 2018 ).…”