Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Material Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China; Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center for Translational Medicine of Mental Disorders, Guangzhou 510370, China; National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China.
The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Huiai Hospital, Guangzhou 510370, China; Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center for Translational Medicine of Mental Disorders, Guangzhou 510370, China.
Neuroscience. 2021 Apr 15;460:1-12. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2021.02.008. Epub 2021 Feb 13.
Emerging evidence suggests that the coupling relating the structural connectivity (SC) of the brain to its functional connectivity (FC) exhibits remarkable changes during development, normal aging, and diseases. Although altered structural-functional connectivity couplings (SC-FC couplings) have been previously reported in schizophrenia patients, the alterations in SC-FC couplings of different illness stages of schizophrenia (SZ) remain largely unknown. In this study, we collected structural and resting-state functional MRI data from 73 normal controls (NCs), 61 first-episode (FeSZ) and 78 chronic (CSZ) schizophrenia patients. Positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) scores were assessed for all patients. Structural and functional brain networks were constructed using gray matter volume (GMV) and resting-state magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) time series measurements. At the connectivity level, the CSZ patients showed significantly increased SC-FC coupling strength compared with the FeSZ patients. At the node strength level, significant decreased SC-FC coupling strength was observed in the FeSZ patients compared to that of the NCs, and the coupling strength was positively correlated with negative PANSS scores. These results demonstrated divergent alterations of SC-FC couplings in FeSZ and CSZ patients. Our findings provide new insight into the neuropathological mechanisms underlying the developmental course of SZ.
新出现的证据表明，大脑结构连接（SC）与其功能连接（FC）之间的耦合关系在发育、正常衰老和疾病过程中表现出显著变化。尽管先前有研究报道精神分裂症患者的结构-功能连接耦合（SC-FC 耦合）发生了改变，但精神分裂症不同疾病阶段的 SC-FC 耦合改变仍知之甚少。在这项研究中，我们从 73 名正常对照者（NC）、61 名首发（FeSZ）和 78 名慢性（CSZ）精神分裂症患者中收集了结构和静息状态功能 MRI 数据。对所有患者进行阳性和阴性综合征量表（PANSS）评分评估。使用灰质体积（GMV）和静息态磁共振成像（rs-fMRI）时间序列测量构建结构和功能脑网络。在连接水平上，CSZ 患者的 SC-FC 耦合强度明显高于 FeSZ 患者。在节点强度水平上，FeSZ 患者的 SC-FC 耦合强度明显低于 NC 组，并且该耦合强度与阴性 PANSS 评分呈正相关。这些结果表明，FeSZ 和 CSZ 患者的 SC-FC 耦合存在不同的改变。我们的研究结果为精神分裂症发展过程中的神经病理学机制提供了新的见解。
