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Clinical Article
Dynamic changes of spontaneous neural activity in the brain of patients with minimal hepatic encephalopathy: A preliminary study of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging
ZHENG Jiarui  WANG Minglei  YANG Xuhong  MA Wanlong  LIU Shan  MA Wenfu  DING Xiangchun  WANG Xiaodong 

Cite this article as: ZHENG J R, WANG M L, YANG X H, et al. Dynamic changes of spontaneous neural activity in the brain of patients with minimal hepatic encephalopathy: A preliminary study of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2023, 14(4): 6-10, 40. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2023.04.002.


[Abstract] Objective This study attempted to investigate the abnormal dynamic characteristics of regional neural activity in minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) patients and to assess whether altered dynamic regional indices are associated with clinical behavior in MHE patients.Materials and Methods A total of 25 healthy volunteers (the control group) and 28 MHE patients were enrolled in this study, followed by resting-stated functional magnetic resonance imaging and number connection test A (NCT-A), digit symbol test (DST), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scale. A sliding time window was used to calculate the temporal variability of dynamic regional homogeneity (dReHo) to assess the temporal dynamics of the dReHo in MHE. Using Pearson correlation. The correlations between the variability of dReHo and NCT-A, DST, MoCA were performed.Results Between the control group and the MHE group, the NCT-A (t=-7.906, P<0.01), DST(t=9.380, P<0.01) and MoCA (t=7.508, P<0.01) scale scores were significantly different. The left middle frontal gyrus, left inferior frontal gyrus, left globus pallidus, left hippocampus, right middle frontal gyrus and right inferior temporal gyrus were significantly different in the MHE group compared with the control group. The dReHo were higher in the MHE group than in the control group (Gaussian random field corrected, P<0.05). Correlation analysis showed that MoCA scale scores were negatively correlated with dReHo values in the right middle frontal gyrus (r=-0.50, P<0.05), and positively correlated with the right inferior temporal gyrus (r=0.70, P<0.05).Conclusions The intrinsic brain activity variability pattern of MHE patients changed, dReHo has potential value in understanding the neurophysiological mechanisms of MHE and its diagnosis.
[Keywords] minimal hepatic encephalopathy;resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging;magnetic resonance imaging;cognitive function;dynamic regional homogeneity;nerve activity

ZHENG Jiarui1   WANG Minglei2   YANG Xuhong1   MA Wanlong3   LIU Shan2   MA Wenfu1   DING Xiangchun3   WANG Xiaodong2, 4*  

1 Ningxia Medical University School of Clinical Medicine, Yinchuan 750004, China

2 Department of Radiology, General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan 750004, China

3 Department of Infectious Diseases, General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan 750004, China

4 Key Laboratory of Craniocerebral Diseases of Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan 750004, China

Corresponding author: Wang XD, E-mail: xdw80@yeah.net

Conflicts of interest   None.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Natural Science Foundation of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (No. 2022AAC03487); Science and Technology Key Research Program of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (No. 2019BEG03037).
Received  2022-12-07
Accepted  2023-04-14
DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2023.04.002
Cite this article as: ZHENG J R, WANG M L, YANG X H, et al. Dynamic changes of spontaneous neural activity in the brain of patients with minimal hepatic encephalopathy: A preliminary study of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2023, 14(4): 6-10, 40. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2023.04.002.

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