Department of Psychiatry Shanxi Medical University, First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China.
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
J Intellect Disabil Res. 2019 Feb;63(2):113-123. doi: 10.1111/jir.12552. Epub 2018 Nov 8.
Previous studies have reported changes within grey matter (GM) volume in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD); however, little is known about GM volume changes and the relation with symptom severity in Chinese boys with low functioning autism spectrum disorder (LFASD).
GM volume was analysed using SPM 8 and compared between 16 boys with LFASD as well as 16 typically developing (TD) boys (using REST 1.8). Additionally, the correlation between GM volume and clinical symptoms was analysed, using subscales within the Autism Behaviour Checklist (ABC).
The comparison showed a reduced volume of GM in 11 clusters in the boys with LFASD (i.e., the left inferior frontal gyrus, orbital part; right superior temporal gyrus, superior frontal gyrus, dorsolateral; precuneus and postcentral; bilateral rectus and middle temporal gyrus) and 1 area with increased GM volume (right caudate) compared to the TD group. Additionally, the GM volume of the left inferior frontal gyrus, orbital part was negatively correlated with the Social subscale score of the ABC (r = -0.765, P = 0.002), and the GM volume of the left Rectus was negatively associated with the Language, Body concept and Self-care subscale scores and the total score on the ABC(r = -0.624, P = 0.023; r = -0.657, P = 0.011; r = -0.618, P = 0.025; r = -0.625, P = 0.022). Further, the GM volume of the right Caudate was negatively correlated with the Sensory subscale on the ABC (r = -0.593, P = 0.033).
In conclusion, the current study's findings display that the GM volume was widely reduced in Chinese boys with LFASD compared to TD boys and negatively correlated with the clinical symptoms, indicating a possible pathological mechanism of LFASD.
先前的研究报告了自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童的灰质（GM）体积变化；然而，对于中国低功能自闭症谱系障碍（LFASD）男孩的 GM 体积变化及其与症状严重程度的关系知之甚少。
使用 SPM 8 分析 GM 体积，并比较 16 名 LFASD 男孩和 16 名典型发育（TD）男孩（使用 REST 1.8）之间的 GM 体积。此外，使用自闭症行为检查表（ABC）的子量表分析 GM 体积与临床症状之间的相关性。
与 TD 组相比，LFASD 男孩的 GM 体积减少了 11 个簇（即左侧额下回眶部；右侧颞上回、额上回、背外侧；楔前叶和中央后回；双侧直回和中颞回）和 1 个 GM 体积增加的区域（右侧尾状核）。此外，左侧额下回眶部 GM 体积与 ABC 的社会子量表得分呈负相关（r=-0.765，P=0.002），左侧直回 GM 体积与语言、身体概念和自理子量表得分以及 ABC 的总分呈负相关（r=-0.624，P=0.023；r=-0.657，P=0.011；r=-0.618，P=0.025；r=-0.625，P=0.022）。此外，右侧尾状核 GM 体积与 ABC 的感觉子量表呈负相关（r=-0.593，P=0.033）。
总之，本研究发现中国 LFASD 男孩的 GM 体积普遍低于 TD 男孩，且与临床症状呈负相关，提示 LFASD 可能存在一种病理机制。
