Su Qian, Liu Lianzi, Hua Ting, Gong Jian, Tian Hongliang, Yun Jiongyue, Cai Wangli
Department of Molecular Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for China, Tianjin, China.
Department of General Medicine, Tianjin Medical University Baodi Hospital, Tianjin, China.
Sci Rep. 2025 May 2;15(1):15440. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-00148-6.
Functional constipation (FCon) is a prevalent common functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) frequently linked to mental and psychological disorders. Although previous studies have demonstrated alterations in brain structure and function in FCon, there remains a lack of investigation into the network-level structural inter-relationships (e.g., structural covariance) within key regions such as the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). This study aimed to investigate whether gray matter volume (GMV) covariance in OFC subregions is selectively disrupted in FCon patients. A cohort of 87 patients with FCon and 87 healthy controls (HC) underwent high-resolution structural MRI scans. The GMV covariance was analyzed using voxel-based morphometry, and the covariance patterns between OFC subregions and other brain regions were examined using a general linear model. FCon patients demonstrated selective alterations in GMV covariance, notably within the lateral and medial OFC subregions, which showed altered covariance with brain regions associated with sensory, motor, and cognitive control functions, including the olfactory cortex, supplementary motor area, insula, and superior frontal gyrus. Our findings indicate that FCon patients show specific GMV covariance alterations in the OFC subregions, suggesting that these structural changes may be associated with disrupted brain-gut interactions and gastrointestinal dysfunction in patients with functional constipation, though the complex and bidirectional nature of gut-brain communication warrants further investigation.
功能性便秘（FCon）是一种常见的功能性胃肠疾病（FGIDs），常与精神和心理障碍相关。尽管先前的研究已经证明了功能性便秘患者脑结构和功能的改变，但对于眶额皮质（OFC）等关键区域内的网络水平结构相互关系（如结构协方差）仍缺乏研究。本研究旨在调查功能性便秘患者眶额皮质亚区域的灰质体积（GMV）协方差是否存在选择性破坏。87名功能性便秘患者和87名健康对照者（HC）接受了高分辨率结构MRI扫描。使用基于体素的形态测量法分析GMV协方差，并使用一般线性模型检查眶额皮质亚区域与其他脑区之间的协方差模式。功能性便秘患者在GMV协方差方面表现出选择性改变，特别是在眶额皮质外侧和内侧亚区域，这些区域与嗅觉皮质、辅助运动区、岛叶和额上回等与感觉、运动和认知控制功能相关的脑区的协方差发生了改变。我们的研究结果表明，功能性便秘患者在眶额皮质亚区域表现出特定的GMV协方差改变，这表明这些结构变化可能与功能性便秘患者的脑-肠相互作用破坏和胃肠功能障碍有关，尽管脑-肠通讯的复杂和双向性质仍需进一步研究。
