scholarly journals Neurochemical Correlates of Brain Atrophy in Fibromyalgia Syndrome: A Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and Cortical Thickness Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 395
Author(s):  
Paola Feraco ◽  
Salvatore Nigro ◽  
Luca Passamonti ◽  
Alessandro Grecucci ◽  
Maria Eugenia Caligiuri ◽  
...  

(1) Background: Recently, a series of clinical neuroimaging studies on fibromyalgia (FM) have shown a reduction in cortical volume and abnormally high glutamate (Glu) and glutamate + glutamine (Glx) levels in regions associated with pain modulation. However, it remains unclear whether the volumetric decreases and increased Glu levels in FM are related each other. We hypothesized that higher Glu levels are related to decreases in cortical thickness (CT) and volume in FM patients. (2) Methods: Twelve females with FM and 12 matched healthy controls participated in a session of combined 3.0 Tesla structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and single-voxel MR spectroscopy focused on the thalami and ventrolateral prefrontal cortices (VLPFC). The thickness of the cortical and subcortical gray matter structures and the Glu/Cr and Glx/Cr ratios were estimated. Statistics included an independent t-test and Spearman’s test. (3) Results: The Glu/Cr ratio of the left VLPFC was negatively related to the CT of the left inferior frontal gyrus (pars opercularis (p = 0.01; r = −0.75) and triangularis (p = 0.01; r = −0.70)). Moreover, the Glx/Cr ratio of the left VLPFC was negatively related to the CT of the left middle anterior cingulate gyrus (p = 0.003; r = −0.81). Significantly lower CTs in FM were detected in subparts of the cingulate gyrus on both sides and in the right inferior occipital gyrus (p < 0.001). (4) Conclusions: Our findings are in line with previous observations that high glutamate levels can be related, in a concentration-dependent manner, to the morphological atrophy described in FM patients.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yangyang Cui ◽  
Huai-Bin Liang ◽  
Qian Zhu ◽  
Zhaoxia Qin ◽  
Yue Hu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Somatic symptom disorders (SSDs) are common medical disorders characterized by various biological, social, and psychological pathogenic factors. Little is known about the neural correlations of SSD. Methods: In this study, we evaluated the dysfunction in 45 patients with SSD and in 43 controls by combining the regional homogeneity (ReHo) amplitudes of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) methods based on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Results: Compared to the controls, the patients with SSD exhibited significantly greater ReHo in the right cingulate gyrus and smaller ReHo in the right precuneus, left inferior and temporal gyrus extending to the left middle temporal gyrus and left parahippocampal gyrus, and right pons. The SSD patients showed higher ALFF values in the cingulate gyrus extending to the left medial frontal gyrus, right insula extending to the right inferior frontal gyrus, and left medial frontal gyrus extending to the left anterior cingulate cortex. Conclusions: These dysfunction areas seem to have a particular importance for the occurrence of SSD, which may result in dysfunction in self-relevant processes, emotional processing, multimodal integration, arousal, interoception, and body perception.


2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 72-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cengiz Basoglu ◽  
Umit Semiz ◽  
Ozgur Oner ◽  
Huseyin Gunay ◽  
Servet Ebrinc ◽  
...  

Background:Prefrontal and/or temporo-limbic abnormalities associated with antisocial personality disorder (APD), high psychopathy scores and violent behaviours can readily be evaluated by neuroimaging methods.Objectives:In this study, we compared the brain metabolites in adult male military conscripts with APD, high psychopathy scores and serious violent crimes (n = 15) with age- and educational-level-matched healthy controls (n = 15) by means of magnetic resonance spectroscopy.Methods:All cases were diagnosed by means of the Diagnostic Statistical Manual-IV APD module of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM III-R Axis II Disorders (SCID-II) semistructured questionnaire in Turkish. The psychopathy scores were evaluated by means of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised translated into Turkish (PCL-R). PCL-R is a 20-item, reliable and valid instrument for assessment of psychopathy, both in categorical and dimensional natures. All patients had a total score of 29 (of possible 40) or higher from PCL-R, indicating a high degree of psychopathy.Results:Our results showed no significant differences in ratio of N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), creatine (Cr) and choline-related compounds in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and amygdala–hippocampus regions of cases compared with controls. ACC NAA/Cr was significantly negatively correlated with both the PCL-R total score and the PCL-R factor I score (interpersonal/affective problems) among the cases.Conclusion:As ACC plays an important role in decision-making and emotional information processing, we postulate that the lower NAA/Cr ratio, suggesting impaired neural integrity, may increase the severity of interpersonal/affective problems of the psychopathy factor in male subjects exhibiting APD, high psychopathy overall scores and violent crimes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 174480692199094
Author(s):  
Ye-Ha Jung ◽  
Hyeonjin Kim ◽  
Dasom Lee ◽  
Jae-Yeon Lee ◽  
Won Joon Lee ◽  
...  

This study aimed to investigate distinct neurometabolites in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), right and left thalamus, and insula of patients with fibromyalgia (FM) compared with healthy controls using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). Levels of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), N-acetylaspartylglutamate (NAAG), total NAA (tNAA = NAA + NAAG), myo-inositol (ml), glutamine (Gln), glutamate (Glu), Glx (Glu + Gln), glycerophosphocholine (GPC), total choline (tCho = GPC + phosphocholine) and glutathione (GSH) levels relative to total creatine (tCr) levels including creatine (Cr) and phosphocreatine (PCr) and relative to Cr levels were determined in the ACC, right and left thalamus, and insula in 12 patients with FM and 13 healthy controls using MRS. In the ACC, NAA/tCr (P = 0.028) and tCho/tCr (P = 0.047) were higher in patients with FM. In the right and left insula, tNAA/tCr (P = 0.019, P = 0.007, respectively) was lower in patients with FM. Patients with FM showed lower levels of ml/Cr (P = 0.037) in the right insula than healthy controls. These findings are paramount to understand decisive pathophysiological mechanisms related to abnormal features in the brain and parasympathetic nervous systems in FM. We suggest that the results presented herein may be essential to understand hidden pathological mechanisms and also life system potential as protective and recovering metabolic strategies in patients with FM.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-Ling Chien ◽  
Yu-Chieh Chen ◽  
Susan Shur-Fen Gau

Abstract Backgrounds Although evidence suggests that the activity of the anterior cingulate cortex involves social cognition, there are inconsistent results regarding the aberrant cingulate gray matter (GM) and scanty evidence about altered cortical thickness and white matter (WM) of cingulate in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Evidence supports the association between the autism risk gene CNTNAP2 variants and altered brain connectivity. This study investigated the cingulate substructure and its association with social awareness deficits and the CNTNAP2 variants in individuals with ASD. Methods We assessed 122 individuals with ASD and 118 typically-developing controls (TDC) with MRI and clinical evaluation. The GM, WM volumes and cortical thickness of the cingulate gyrus were compared between ASD and TDC based on fine parcellation. Five SNPs of the CNTNAP2 linking to ASD and brain structural abnormality were genotyped. Results ASD individuals showed thinner cortical thickness in bilateral cingulate subregions than TDC but no significant group differences in GM and WM volumes. The WM volume of the right anterior cingulate gyrus was correlated with social awareness deficits in ASD. Two CNTNAP2 variants demonstrated the main effects on the WM volumes of the right middle cingulate gyrus and the cortical thickness of the right posterior ventral cingulate gyrus. Besides, the CNTNAP2 variants interacted with ASD status and age on the cortical thickness of the left anterior middle cingulate cortex.Limitations The CNTNAP2 variants selected in this study were based on the current literature that repeatedly revealed genetic associations with ASD and brain structures. Future studies may consider fine mapping or sequencing of this gene. Besides, we measured social awareness deficits by caregiver-report questionnaire. Although the observation from caregivers may reflect social function in daily life, a social cognition task may better provide a standardized measurement.Conclusions Our findings suggest that aberrant cingulate structure in ASD may be associated with the severity of autistic symptoms and genetic variants of the CNTNAP2. These novel findings need validation. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01582256


2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-Chun Yeh ◽  
Cheng-Fang Yen ◽  
Chun-Wei Li ◽  
Yu-Ting Kuo ◽  
Chia-Hui Chen ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTBackground:Unawareness of deficits is common and is associated with poor outcomes in Alzheimer's disease (AD); however, little is known about correlated neurobiochemical changes.Methods:Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to examine neurobiochemical correlates of unawareness of deficits as assessed by the Dementia Deficit Scale in 36 patients with AD. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy spectra were acquired from the anterior cingulate area and right orbitofrontal area. Concentrations of N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA), total creatine, and other neurometabolites were calculated.Results:Nineteen (52.8%) participants had relative unawareness of deficits. This condition was negatively correlated with NAA/creatine in the anterior cingulate area (β = −0.36, p = 0.025) and positively correlated with NAA/creatine in the right orbitofrontal area (β = 0.41, p = 0.009) after controlling for dementia severity.Conclusions:These findings suggest unawareness of deficits in AD was associated with the altered neurochemical metabolites in the anterior cingulate area and right orbitofrontal area. However, the two areas might have opposite neuronal functions in unawareness of deficits.


2012 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 244-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Verdejo-García ◽  
Dan I Lubman ◽  
Kim Roffel ◽  
Raquel Vilar-López ◽  
Emre Bora ◽  
...  

Objective: High doses of opiate substitution pharmacotherapy are associated with greater treatment retention and lower illicit drug consumption, although the neurobiological bases of these benefits are poorly understood. Dysfunction of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is associated with greater addiction severity and mood dysregulation in opiate users, such that the beneficial effects of substitution pharmacotherapy may relate to normalisation of ACC function. This study aimed to investigate the differential impact of methadone compared with buprenorphine on dorsal ACC biochemistry. A secondary aim was to explore the differential effects of methadone and buprenorphine on dorsal ACC biochemistry in relation to depressive symptoms. Methods: Twenty-four heroin-dependent individuals stabilised on methadone ( n=10) or buprenorphine ( n=14) and 24 healthy controls were scanned using proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and compared for metabolite concentrations of N-acetylaspartate, glutamate/glutamine, and myo-inositol. Results: (1) Methadone was associated with normalisation of dorsal ACC biochemistry (increased N-acetylaspartate and glutamate/glutamine levels, and decreased myo-inositol levels) in a dose-dependent manner; (2) buprenorphine-treated individuals had higher myo-inositol and glutamate/glutamine levels than methadone-treated patients in the right dorsal ACC; and (3) myo-inositol levels were positively correlated with depressive symptoms in participants stabilised on buprenorphine. Conclusions: These findings point to a beneficial role of high-dose methadone on dorsal ACC biochemistry, and suggest a link between elevated myo-inositol levels and depressive symptoms in the context of buprenorphine treatment.


SLEEP ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernesto Sanz-Arigita ◽  
Yannick Daviaux ◽  
Marc Joliot ◽  
Bixente Dilharreguy ◽  
Jean-Arthur Micoulaud-Franchi ◽  
...  

Abstract Study objectives Emotional reactivity to negative stimuli has been investigated in insomnia, but little is known about emotional reactivity to positive stimuli and its neural representation. Methods We used 3T fMRI to determine neural reactivity during the presentation of standardized short, 10-40-s, humorous films in insomnia patients (n=20, 18 females, aged 27.7 +/- 8.6 years) and age-matched individuals without insomnia (n=20, 19 females, aged 26.7 +/- 7.0 years), and assessed humour ratings through a visual analogue scale (VAS). Seed-based functional connectivity was analysed for left and right amygdala networks: group-level mixed-effects analysis (FLAME; FSL) was used to compare amygdala connectivity maps between groups. Results fMRI seed-based analysis of the amygdala revealed stronger neural reactivity in insomnia patients than in controls in several brain network clusters within the reward brain network, without humour rating differences between groups (p = 0.6). For left amygdala connectivity, cluster maxima were in the left caudate (Z=3.88), left putamen (Z=3.79) and left anterior cingulate gyrus (Z=4.11), while for right amygdala connectivity, cluster maxima were in the left caudate (Z=4.05), right insula (Z=3.83) and left anterior cingulate gyrus (Z=4.29). Cluster maxima of the right amygdala network were correlated with hyperarousal scores in insomnia patients only. Conclusions Presentation of humorous films leads to increased brain activity in the neural reward network for insomnia patients compared to controls, related to hyperarousal features in insomnia patients, in the absence of humor rating group differences. These novel findings may benefit insomnia treatment interventions.


Metabolites ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 176
Author(s):  
Justine Deborne ◽  
Noël Pinaud ◽  
Yannick Crémillieux

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of a miniaturized implantable nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) coil to acquire in vivo proton NMR spectra in sub-microliter regions of interest and to obtain metabolic information using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in these small volumes. For this purpose, the NMR microcoils were implanted in the right cortex of healthy rats and in C6 glioma-bearing rats. The dimensions of the microcoil were 450 micrometers wide and 3 mm long. The MRS acquisitions were performed at 7 Tesla using volume coil for RF excitation and microcoil for signal reception. The detection volume of the microcoil was measured equal to 450 nL. A gain in sensitivity equal to 76 was found in favor of implanted microcoil as compared to external surface coil. Nine resonances from metabolites were assigned in the spectra acquired in healthy rats (n = 5) and in glioma-bearing rat (n = 1). The differences in relative amplitude of choline, lactate and creatine resonances observed in glioma-bearing animal were in agreement with published findings on this tumor model. In conclusion, the designed implantable microcoil is suitable for in vivo MRS and can be used for probing the metabolism in localized and very small regions of interest in a tumor.


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