Feraco Paola, Nigro Salvatore, Passamonti Luca, Grecucci Alessandro, Caligiuri Maria Eugenia, Gagliardo Cesare, Bacci Antonella
Neuroradiology Unit, S. Chiara Hospital, Largo Medaglie d'oro 9, 38122 Trento, Italy.
Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine (DIMES), University of Bologna, Via San Giacomo 14, 40100 Bologna, Italy.
Brain Sci. 2020 Jun 20;10(6):395. doi: 10.3390/brainsci10060395.
(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 -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 ( = 0.01; = -0.75) and triangularis ( = 0.01; = -0.70)). Moreover, the Glx/Cr ratio of the left VLPFC was negatively related to the CT of the left middle anterior cingulate gyrus ( = 0.003; = -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 ( 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.
(1) 背景：最近，一系列关于纤维肌痛（FM）的临床神经影像学研究表明，与疼痛调节相关区域的皮质体积减小，谷氨酸（Glu）以及谷氨酸+谷氨酰胺（Glx）水平异常升高。然而，FM中体积减小与Glu水平升高是否相互关联仍不清楚。我们假设FM患者中较高的Glu水平与皮质厚度（CT）和体积减小有关。(2) 方法：12名患有FM的女性和12名匹配的健康对照者参加了一次联合的3.0特斯拉结构磁共振成像（MRI）和聚焦于丘脑及腹外侧前额叶皮质（VLPFC）的单体素磁共振波谱检查。估计皮质和皮质下灰质结构的厚度以及Glu/Cr和Glx/Cr比值。统计分析包括独立样本t检验和Spearman检验。(3) 结果：左侧VLPFC的Glu/Cr比值与左侧额下回（ opercularis部（ = 0.01； = -0.75）和triangularis部（ = 0.01； = -0.70））的CT呈负相关。此外，左侧VLPFC的Glx/Cr比值与左侧中前扣带回的CT呈负相关（ = 0.003； = -0.81）。在FM患者中，双侧扣带回的部分区域以及右侧枕下回的CT显著降低（ 0.001）。(4) 结论：我们的研究结果与先前的观察结果一致，即高谷氨酸水平可能以浓度依赖的方式与FM患者中描述的形态学萎缩相关。
