He Caifeng, Yuan Tao, Yuan Lili, Wang Jun, Lu Xiaohong, Hu Wenlong, Qiang Di, Cui Yong, Ci Chao, Shang Xianjin
Department of Dermatology, Yijishan Hospital of Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, 241000, Anhui, China.
Department of Neurology, Yijishan Hospital of Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, 241000, Anhui, China.
Eur J Med Res. 2024 Aug 7;29(1):408. doi: 10.1186/s40001-024-02004-1.
The attentional network test (ANT) is widely used to evaluate the performance of three attentional networks: alerting, orienting and executive attention networks. This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of attention functions in HIV-negative patients with early forms of neurosyphilis (NS) and their correlation with abnormalities in brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Thirty patients with early forms of NS, 31 patients with syphilis but without NS (Non-NS) and 35 healthy controls were recruited from an HIV-negative cohort between September 2020 and November 2022. The participants were evaluated with the ANT and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Brain MRI was performed in NS and Non-NS patients.
No significant differences were observed in the MMSE scores among the three groups. However, patients with early forms of NS showed poorer performance in orienting and alerting functions than Non-NS group (F = 6.952, P = 0.011 and F = 8.794, P = 0.004, respectively); No significant difference was observed in executive function between the two groups (F = 0.001, P = 0.980). Multivariate analysis of variance using the Bonferroni post hoc test indicated that patients with NS exhibited less efficient orienting function (P = 0.023), and alerting function (P = 0.003) but not executive function (P = 0.99), compared to Non-NS patients. Additionally, a significant difference was found in orienting function between patients with NS and healthy controls (P < 0.001) compared to healthy controls. MRI scans revealed that the NS group had a higher prevalence of abnormalities in the frontal lobes and/or the temporoparietal junction compared to the Non-NS group (24/25 vs. 13/19, P = 0.032).
The orienting and alerting functions but not executive function were significantly less efficient in early forms of NS group than in the Non-NS group (P < 0.01). This indicates deficits in selective attention in patients with early forms of NS. Brain MRI scans revealed abnormalities in the frontal and/or parietal lobes, as well as the temporoparietal junction, suggesting potential neuropathological correlates of these attentional deficits.
注意力网络测试（ANT）被广泛用于评估三种注意力网络的表现：警觉、定向和执行注意力网络。本研究旨在调查早期神经梅毒（NS）的HIV阴性患者的注意力功能特征及其与脑磁共振成像（MRI）异常的相关性。
2020年9月至2022年11月期间，从HIV阴性队列中招募了30例早期NS患者、31例患有梅毒但无NS的患者（非NS）和35名健康对照者。参与者接受了ANT和简易精神状态检查（MMSE）评估。对NS和非NS患者进行了脑部MRI检查。
三组患者的MMSE评分无显著差异。然而，早期NS患者在定向和警觉功能方面的表现比非NS组差（F = 6.952，P = 0.011和F = 8.794，P = （此处原文有误，应为0.004））；两组在执行功能方面无显著差异（F = 0.001，P = 0.980）。使用Bonferroni事后检验的多变量方差分析表明，与非NS患者相比，NS患者的定向功能（P = 0.023）和警觉功能（P = 0.003）效率较低，但执行功能无差异（P = 0.99）。此外，与健康对照相比，NS患者与健康对照在定向功能上存在显著差异（P < 0.001）。MRI扫描显示，与非NS组相比，NS组额叶和/或颞顶叶交界处的异常患病率更高（24/25 vs. 13/19，P = 0.032）。
早期NS组的定向和警觉功能而非执行功能的效率明显低于非NS组（P < 0.01）。这表明早期NS患者存在选择性注意力缺陷。脑部MRI扫描显示额叶和/或顶叶以及颞顶叶交界处存在异常，提示这些注意力缺陷可能存在神经病理学相关性。
