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Decreased DTI-ALPS and choroid plexus enlargement in fibromyalgia: a preliminary multimodal MRI study

  • Advanced Neuroimaging
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Abstract

Purpose

The glymphatic system is a fluid exchange pathway that clears waste products that is crucial for the maintenance of brain homeostasis. However, the exact role it plays in the emergence of fibromyalgia (FM) is still not fully understood. Here, we explored the changes in non-invasive MRI proxy probably related to the glymphatic function in FM patients, and explored brain-behavior relationships.

Methods

A total of 40 participants, consisting of 20 individuals with FM and 20 healthy controls (HCs), were included in the study. The participants underwent structural T1-weighted MRI, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and clinical assessment. The data was obtained from an open access dataset. The study compared non-invasive MRI indices, including choroid plexus (CP) volume and DTI analysis along the perivascular space (ALPS), between the FM and HC groups. Furthermore, correlation analysis was conducted to determine the correlation between clinical parameters and both CP volume and DTI-ALPS index.

Results

Patients with FM had significantly higher CP volume and a lower DTI-ALPS index than HCs adjusting for age and intracranial volume. Higher CP volume was associated with lower DTI-ALPS index, and longer disease duration.

Conclusion

Our findings demonstrate aberrant glymphatic function in FM, and that dysfunction in the brain glymphatic system may play a role in the neural mechanisms underlying FM.

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Data availability

Data are available from a public dataset via OpenNeuro with accession number ds001928 (https://openneuro.org/datasets/ds001928/versions/1.1.0).

Code availability

None.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all the participants in this study, and Giuseppe Barisano’s code for DTI-ALPS (https://github.com/gbarisano/alps).

Funding

None.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

    Ye Tu, Zheng Li & Feng Gao

  2. Hubei Key Laboratory of Geriatric Anesthesia and Perioperative Brain Health, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

    Ye Tu, Zheng Li & Feng Gao

  3. Wuhan Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Anesthesia, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

    Ye Tu, Zheng Li & Feng Gao

  4. Department of Radiology, PLA Central Theater General Hospital, Wuhan, China

    Fei Xiong

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  1. Ye Tu
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Correspondence to Fei Xiong or Feng Gao.

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None of the authors of this manuscript has any potential conflict of interest related to the content of this study.

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This research was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Bioethics Committee of the Institute of Neurobiology, UNAM Juriquilla, Queretaro, Mexico.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Tu, Y., Li, Z., Xiong, F. et al. Decreased DTI-ALPS and choroid plexus enlargement in fibromyalgia: a preliminary multimodal MRI study. Neuroradiology 65, 1749–1755 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-023-03240-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-023-03240-8

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