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. 2022 Mar 2:16:855470.
doi: 10.3389/fnins.2022.855470. eCollection 2022.

Altered Intra- and Inter-Network Functional Connectivity in Patients With Crohn's Disease: An Independent Component Analysis-Based Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Lu Li  1 , Jie Ma  2 , Xuyun Hua  3 , Yan Zhou  4 , Yage Qiu  4 , Zhen Zhu  5 , Yanling Zheng  1 , Qian Xie  1 , Zonghui Liang  1 , Jianguang Xu  2
Affiliations

Altered Intra- and Inter-Network Functional Connectivity in Patients With Crohn's Disease: An Independent Component Analysis-Based Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Lu Li et al. Front Neurosci. .

Abstract

Background: Many studies have reported changes in the structure and function of several brain areas in patients with Crohn's disease (CD). However, little is known about whether the possible functional connectivity of resting-state networks (RSNs) is altered in CD patients.

Purpose: Aim to investigate the intra- and inter-network alterations between related RSNs in patients with CD and the potential relationships between altered neuroimaging and CD clinical indices.

Materials and methods: In this study, 20 CD patients and 22 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were included. All participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging examination. We used independent component analysis (ICA) to explore the changes in RSNs and evaluated functional connectivity between different RSNs using functional network connectivity (FNC) analysis, and Pearson correlation analysis was performed between altered intra- and inter-network functional connectivity and CD clinical index.

Results: Six CD-related RSNs were identified via ICA, namely the high visual, prime visual, language, dorsal default mode, posterior insula, and precuneus networks. Compared to healthy controls, patients with CD showed significant changes in prime visual and language networks. Additionally, the functional connectivity (FC) values of the left calcarine within the prime visual network were negatively correlated with CD duration. The inter-alterations showed that a significantly increased FNC existed between the language and dorsal default mode networks.

Conclusion: The results showed CD-related changes in brain functional networks. This evidence provides more insights into the pathophysiological mechanisms of brain plasticity in CD.

Keywords: Crohn’s disease; brain-gut axis; functional connectivity; independent component analysis; resting-state network.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Spatial maps for six resting-state networks (RSNs). Each RSN map was obtained using a one-sample t-test across all individual IC patterns.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Results of intra-network FC analysis. Altered FC in the prime visual network and language network: the cool color denotes lower functional connectivity in the CD group compared with the control group, and the hot color denotes higher functional connectivity in the CD group. Color bar presents t-value.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Differences in brain functional network connectivity between RSNs. Increased connectivity strength in the CD group is displayed between language network and dDMN (red line, t = 2.78, P = 0.008, FDR corrected).
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Relationship between the neuroimaging findings and CD clinical characteristics. The intra-network FC values of the left CAL showed a negative correlation with the duration of CD patients (r = –0.451, p = 0.046). CAL, calcarine; CD, Crohn’s disease; and PVN, prime visual network.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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