Department of Medical Imaging Center, Affiliated Hospital of Qinghai University, Xining, 810001, China.
Sci Rep. 2020 Sep 23;10(1):15546. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-72339-2.
The objective of the study was to observe brain function changes in Obstructive Sleep Apnoea Hypopnoea Syndrome (OSAHS) patients at high altitude. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) in patients with OSAHS was assessed using regional homogeneity (ReHo), amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and functional connectivity (FC). In this study, 36 male patients with OSAHS and 38 healthy male subjects were recruited from high-altitude areas, specifically, altitudes of 2,000-3,000 m. OSAHS was diagnosed by polysomnography (PSG). The blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals of OSAHS patients and healthy controls in the resting state were obtained and compared using ReHo, ALFF and FC methods. The posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) was selected as the seed region in the comparison of FC between the two groups. Compared with the healthy control group, multiple brain functions in the OSAHS patient group were different. There were correlations between the brain function values of some brain regions and demographic data. We also found that in contrast to earlier findings with individuals in plains areas, the brain function at the frontal lobe and the precuneus were higher in OSAHS patients, and the PCC showed higher FC with the left caudate, which may be due to the high-altitude hypoxic environment.
本研究旨在观察高原地区阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停低通气综合征（OSAHS）患者的脑功能变化。采用局部一致性（ReHo）、低频振幅（ALFF）和功能连接（FC）对 OSAHS 患者的静息态功能磁共振成像（rs-fMRI）进行评估。本研究共纳入 36 例男性高原 OSAHS 患者和 38 例健康男性对照，海拔 2000-3000m。OSAHS 患者的诊断采用多导睡眠图（PSG）。采用 ReHo、ALFF 和 FC 方法比较 OSAHS 患者和健康对照组在静息状态下的血氧水平依赖（BOLD）信号。在两组之间的 FC 比较中，选择后扣带回（PCC）作为种子区域。与健康对照组相比，OSAHS 患者的多个脑区的脑功能存在差异。一些脑区的脑功能值与人口统计学数据之间存在相关性。我们还发现，与平原地区个体的早期研究结果不同，高原 OSAHS 患者的额叶和楔前叶脑功能较高，PCC 与左侧尾状核的 FC 较高，这可能是由于高原缺氧环境所致。
