Stellmann Jan-Patrick, Hodecker Sibylle, Cheng Bastian, Wanke Nadine, Young Kim Lea, Hilgetag Claus, Gerloff Christian, Heesen Christoph, Thomalla Götz, Siemonsen Susanne
Institut für Neuroimmunologie und Multiple Sklerose (INIMS) (J.-P.S., S.H., N.W., K.L.Y., C.G., C. Heesen, S.S.), Klinik und Poliklinik für Neurologie (J.-P.S., S.H., B.C., N.W., K.L.Y., C. Heesen, G.T.), Institute of Computational Neuroscience (C. Hilgetag), and Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology (S.S.), University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany.
Neurol Neuroimmunol Neuroinflamm. 2017 Jul 27;4(5):e375. doi: 10.1212/NXI.0000000000000375. eCollection 2017 Sep.
To investigate whether the structural connectivity of the brain's rich-club organization is altered in patients with primary progressive MS and whether such changes to this fundamental network feature are associated with disability measures.
We recruited 37 patients with primary progressive MS and 21 healthy controls for an observational cohort study. Structural connectomes were reconstructed based on diffusion-weighted imaging data using probabilistic tractography and analyzed with graph theory.
We observed the same topological organization of brain networks in patients and controls. Consistent with the originally defined rich-club regions, we identified superior frontal, precuneus, superior parietal, and insular cortex in both hemispheres as rich-club nodes. Connectivity within the rich club was significantly reduced in patients with MS ( = 0.039). The extent of reduced rich-club connectivity correlated with clinical measurements of mobility (Kendall rank correlation coefficient τ = -0.20, = 0.047), hand function (τ = -0.26, = 0.014), and information processing speed (τ = -0.20, = 0.049).
In patients with primary progressive MS, the fundamental organization of the structural connectome in rich-club and peripheral nodes was preserved and did not differ from healthy controls. The proportion of rich-club connections was altered and correlated with disability measures. Thus, the rich-club organization of the brain may be a promising network phenotype for understanding the patterns and mechanisms of neurodegeneration in MS.
研究原发性进展型多发性硬化症（MS）患者大脑富俱乐部组织的结构连接性是否改变，以及这种基本网络特征的变化是否与残疾指标相关。
我们招募了37例原发性进展型MS患者和21名健康对照者进行观察性队列研究。基于扩散加权成像数据，使用概率纤维束成像重建结构连接组，并采用图论进行分析。
我们在患者和对照者中观察到相同的脑网络拓扑组织。与最初定义的富俱乐部区域一致，我们在两个半球中均确定额上回、楔前叶、顶上叶和岛叶皮质为富俱乐部节点。MS患者富俱乐部内的连接性显著降低（P = 0.039）。富俱乐部连接性降低的程度与运动能力（肯德尔等级相关系数τ = -0.20，P = 0.047）、手部功能（τ = -0.26，P = 0.014）和信息处理速度（τ = -0.20，P = 0.049）的临床测量值相关。
在原发性进展型MS患者中，富俱乐部和外周节点的结构连接组基本组织得以保留，与健康对照者无差异。富俱乐部连接的比例发生改变，并与残疾指标相关。因此，大脑的富俱乐部组织可能是理解MS神经退行性变模式和机制的一个有前景的网络表型。
