Structural changes of the brain in rheumatoid arthritis
Structural changes of the brain in rheumatoid arthritis
复制标题
DOI：
10.1002/art.33326
复制
发表时间：
2012-02-01
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Tracey, Irene
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Wartolowska, Karolina;Hough, Morgan G.;Tracey, Irene
目的探讨类风湿关节炎（RA）患者大脑皮质和皮质下灰质是否存在结构改变。我们使用两种基于表面的风格形态分析程序和一种基于体素的风格分析程序，比较了31例RA患者和25名年龄和性别匹配的健康对照者的高分辨率结构磁共振成像数据。我们观察到类风湿关节炎患者的基底节灰质含量增加，主要是在脑桥核和尾状核。皮质灰质无差异。此外，患者的颅内体积较小。我们的研究结果表明，RA与皮质下灰质的变化，而不是与皮质灰质萎缩。由于基底神经节在运动控制以及疼痛处理和对厌恶刺激的反应中调节行为中起着重要作用，我们认为这些变化可能是由于运动控制改变或疼痛处理延长所致。脑体积的差异可能反映了全身性萎缩或脑发育的差异。
Objective To investigate whether structural changes are present in the cortical and subcortical gray matter of the brains of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Methods. We used two surface-based style morphometry analysis programs and a voxel-based style analysis program to compare high-resolution structural magnetic resonance imaging data obtained for 31 RA patients and 25 age-and sex-matched healthy control subjects.Results. We observed an increase in gray matter content in the basal ganglia of RA patients, mainly in the nucleus accumbens and caudate nucleus. There were no differences in the cortical gray matter. Moreover, patients had a smaller intracranial volume.Conclusion. Our results suggest that RA is associated with changes in the subcortical gray matter rather than with cortical gray matter atrophy. Since the basal ganglia play an important role in motor control as well as in pain processing and in modulating behavior in response to aversive stimuli, we suggest that these changes may result from altered motor control or prolonged pain processing. The differences in brain volume may reflect either generalized atrophy or differences in brain development.