Gender-related differences in functional connectivity in multiple sclerosis
Gender-related differences in functional connectivity in multiple sclerosis
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DOI：
10.1177/1352458511422245
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发表时间：
2012-02-01
影响因子：
5.8
通讯作者：
Geurts, Jeroen J. G.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Schoonheim, Menno M.;Hulst, Hanneke E.;Geurts, Jeroen J. G.
背景：性别对多发性硬化症（MS）的影响很大，男性患者的临床预后比女性患者差。神经活动的功能重组可能有助于限制残疾，在这一过程中可能存在的性别差异可能具有重要的临床意义。目的：本研究旨在探讨MS患者功能连通性和网络效率的性别相关变化。此外，我们还探讨了功能变化与认知功能的关系。方法：选取60名年龄、文化程度、智商相匹配的被试进行研究。男性和女性患者在残疾、病程和白质病变负荷方面进行匹配。对所有受试者的视觉空间记忆和信息处理速度这两个认知领域进行了评估。利用静息状态功能磁共振成像和图分析探讨脑区与网络效率之间的功能连通性。研究了两组之间认知和功能特征的差异，以及与认知表现的相关性。结果：男性患者在认知测试中的表现低于女性和男性对照组，而女性患者认知正常。在男性患者中观察到，功能连通性和网络效率的降低与视觉空间记忆的降低相关（r = -0.6和r = -0.5）。在对照组中，尽管健康男性和女性在功能连接方面存在差异，但没有发现性别之间的认知差异。结论：功能连通性差异仅在男性患者中发现，并且与视觉空间记忆受损有关。这些结果强调了性别在多发性硬化症中的重要性，需要在更大的纵向研究中进一步调查。
Background: Gender effects are strong in multiple sclerosis (MS), with male patients showing a worse clinical outcome than female patients. Functional reorganization of neural activity may contribute to limit disability, and possible gender differences in this process may have important clinical implications.Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore gender-related changes in functional connectivity and network efficiency in MS patients. Additionally, we explored the association of functional changes with cognitive function.Methods: Sixty subjects were included in the study, matched for age, education level and intelligence quotient (IQ). Male and female patients were matched for disability, disease duration and white matter lesion load. Two cognitive domains often impaired in MS, i.e. visuospatial memory and information processing speed, were evaluated in all subjects. Functional connectivity between brain regions and network efficiency was explored using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and graph analysis. Differences in cognitive and functional characteristics between groups, and correlations with cognitive performance, were examined.Results: Male patients showed worse performance on cognitive tests than female and male controls, while female patients were cognitively normal. Decreases in functional connectivity and network efficiency, observed in male patients, correlated with reduced visuospatial memory (r = -0.6 and r = -0.5, respectively). In the control group, no cognitive differences were found between genders, despite differences in functional connectivity between healthy men and women.Conclusions: Functional connectivity differences were found in male patients only and were related to impaired visuospatial memory. These results underline the importance of gender in MS and require further investigation in larger and longitudinal studies.