威尔逊病患者结构脑网络的破坏

Destruction of Structural Brain Networks in Wilson’s Disease Patients

目的:探究WD患者的认知功能与大脑网络的全局拓扑属性之间是否存在相关性。方法:对20例威尔逊病患者和15例健康对照者进行扩散张量成像(Diffusion tensor imaging,DTI)。用图论方法构建和分析全脑结构网络,研究其全局网络指标(包括小世界属性和网络效率)的组间差异,以及全脑网络网络指标与MoCA量表评分的相关性。结果:同正常人相比较,威尔逊病患者表现出结构脑网络的破坏,其特征是集聚系数和特征性路径长度增加,全局效率和局部效率降低。且特征性路径长度与MoCA量表评分呈负相关,全局效率和局部效率与MoCA量表评分呈正相关。结论:威尔逊病患者的结构脑网络有朝正则网络转变的趋势,使得威尔逊病患者大脑网络全局和局部信息传输能力均下降,表明威尔逊病患者结构脑网络受到破坏。特征性路径长度与MoCA量表评分呈负相关,全局效率和局部效率与MoCA量表评分呈正相关,这表明威尔逊患者结构脑网络的破坏与其认知功能的损伤存在明显的相关性。

Objective:To explore the correlation between cognitive function and global topological properties of structural brain networks in Wilson’s Disease patients.Methods:Twenty Wilson’s Disease patients and fifteen healthy controls underwent diffusion tensor imaging(DTI).The whole-brain structural networks were constructed and analyzed using graph theoretical approaches.Intergroup differences in global network metrics and the correlation between the network indicators and MoCA scale score were investigated.Results:Compared with normal people,the clustering coefficient and characteristic path length of Wilson’s Disease patients increased,while the global efficiency and local efficiency decreased.The characteristic path length was negatively correlated with the MoCA scale score,while the global efficiency and local efficiency were positively correlated with the MoCA scale score.Conclusion:The structural brain network of Wilson’s Disease patients has a tendency to transform into a regular network,which leads to a decrease in both the global and local information transmission capacity of the brain network in Wilson’s Disease patients,indicating that the structural brain network of Wilson’s Disease patients is damaged.The characteristic path length was negatively correlated with the MoCA scale score,and the global efficiency and local efficiency were positively correlated with MoCA scale score,indicating that the damage of structural brain networks in Wilson’s Disease patients was significantly correlated with the impairment of cognitive function.