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Altered white matter structural connectivity in primary Sjögren’s syndrome: a link-based analysis

  • Functional Neuroradiology
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Abstract

Purpose

Cognitive impairment has been revealed in primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS). However, the underlying white matter structural connectivity (SC) changes have not been studied. This study aimed to investigate the altered white matter brain network in patients with pSS using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).

Methods

Forty-one pSS patients and sixty matched healthy controls (HCs) underwent neuropsychological tests and the subsequent MRI examinations. The clinical data were gathered from the medical record. The structural brain network was established using DTI, and a link-based comparison was performed between patients with pSS and HCs (false discovery rate correction, P < 0.05). Furthermore, the mean fractional anisotropy (FA) of the altered SCs was correlated with the neuropsychological tests and clinical data in patients with pSS (Bonferroni correction, P < 0.05).

Results

Compared with HCs, patients with pSS mainly exhibited decreased SC in the frontal and parietal lobes and some parts of the temporal and occipital lobes. In addition, increased SC was found between the right caudate nucleus and right median cingulate/paracingulate gyri. Specifically, the reduced SC between the left middle temporal gyrus and left middle occipital gyrus was negatively correlated with white matter high signal intensity (WMH).

Conclusions

Patients with pSS showed diffusely decreased SC mainly in the frontoparietal network and exhibited a negative correlation between the reduced SC and WMH. SC represents a potential biomarker for preclinical brain impairment in patients with pSS.

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Abbreviations

MRI:

Magnetic resonance imaging

pSS:

Primary Sjögren’s syndrome

DTI:

Diffusion tensor imaging

SC:

Structural connectivity

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Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No: 81701679 to X. D. Zhang and No: 62176181 to J. H. Xu), Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin (19JCQNJC09800 to X. D. Zhang), and Tianjin Key Medical Discipline (Specialty) Construction Project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Tianjin First Central Hospital, Tianjin Institute of Imaging Medicine, No.24 Fu Kang Road, Nan Kai District, Tianjin, 300192, China

    Xiao-Dong Zhang, Jia-Min Zhou, Zi-Ning Lu, Wen Shen & Yue Cheng

  2. Department of Radiology, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, 300060, China

    Jing-Li Li

  3. Department of Rheumatology, Tianjin First Central Hospital, Tianjin, 300192, China

    Lin-Ru Zhao

  4. Tianjin Key Laboratory of Cognitive Computing and Application, College of Intelligence and Computing, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300350, China

    Jun-Hai Xu

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  1. Xiao-Dong Zhang
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  2. Jing-Li Li
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All the authors participated in the conception and design, execution, data analysis and interpretation, drafting and revising of the manuscript, and approval of the final version.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jun-Hai Xu or Yue Cheng.

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All procedures performed in our studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the medical research committee and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Zhang, XD., Li, JL., Zhou, JM. et al. Altered white matter structural connectivity in primary Sjögren’s syndrome: a link-based analysis. Neuroradiology 64, 2011–2019 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-022-02970-5

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