A study of brain functional networks in patients with inflammatory bowel disease based on graph theory
10.3760/cma.j.cn101480-20230823-00014
- VernacularTitle:基于图论的炎症性肠病患者脑功能网络研究
- Author:
Xintong WU
1
;
Bingjian WANG
;
Shizhen BAO
;
Shuangshuang LU
;
Jingwen SUN
;
Kecen YUE
;
Ling ZOU
;
Wenjia LIU
Author Information
1. 南京医科大学第三附属医院（常州市第二人民医院）消化内科，常州 213003
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Inflammatory bowel disease;
Gut-brain axis;
Magnetic resonance imaging;
Brain functional networks;
Graph theory
- From:
Chinese Journal of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
2024;08(4):278-286
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective:To investigate the characteristics of brain functional networks alterations in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and explore their correlations with clinical indicators and psycho-psychological scores.Methods:A cross-sectional survey study was conducted. A total of 48 IBD patients diagnosed at the Changzhou Second People′s Hospital from June 2021 to June 2023 were collected, and 32 healthy individuals matched for age, gender, and education level were selected as the healthy control group. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data were enrolled, and the topological properties of brain networks between the two groups of subjects were compared by using graph theory analysis. Pearson correlation and Spearman′s partial correlation analyses were used to explore the correlations between changes in IBD patients′ brain networks topological properties and clinical indicators and psycho-psychological scores.Results:In the IBD group, 29 patients were males (60.4%) and 19 were females (39.6%) ; the total disease course was 1.0 (0.3, 5.0) years; 34 patients were Crohn′s disease and 14 ulcerative colitis; they were mainly in the active phase (58.84%, 28/48) . The scores of the hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS-A and HADS-D) in IBD patients were higher than those in the healthy control group (both P<0.01) . In terms of global properties, both the IBD group and the healthy control group had "small-world" properties (both σ>1.1) . Compared with the healthy control group, the IBD group had lower clustering coefficients, global efficiency, and local efficiency, and longer characteristic path lengths, with all differences being statistically significant (all P<0.05) . In terms of local properties, compared with the healthy control group, the IBD group had higher degree centrality and nodal efficiency in the left middle frontal gyrus, higher betweenness centrality in the left thalamus, lower betweenness centrality and degree centrality in the right parahippocampal gyrus, lower nodal clustering coefficients in the bilateral middle temporal gyrus, right anterior cingulate gyrus and paracingulate gyrus, and lower nodal local efficiency in the bilateral caudate nuclei and left middle temporal gyrus, with all differences being statistically significant (all P<0.05) . The degree centrality of the right parahippocampal gyrus in the IBD group was negatively correlated with the HADS-A score ( r = -0.401, P = 0.005) , and the betweenness centrality was also negatively correlated with the HADS-A score ( r = -0.343, P = 0.017) . The nodal clustering coefficient of the right middle temporal gyrus in the IBD group was positively correlated with the total disease course ( rs = 0.589, P<0.001) . Conclusion:IBD patients have decreased overall information transmission capacity in brain networks, reduced limbic system function, and abnormal functions in brain areas related to pain perception, which are correlated to some extent with the disease course and psycho-psychological state.
