Abstract
In this study, we seek to longitudinally investigate the network-level functional connectivity (FC) alternations and its association with irradiation dose and cognition changes in the early stage post radiotherapy (RT) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients. We performed independent component analysis (ICA) of resting state blood oxygen level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD-fMRI) from 39 newly diagnosed NPC patients before receiving treatment (baseline), and 3 months post-RT. the default mode network (DMN), salience network (SN), and executive control network (ECN) were extracted with well-validated software (GIFT). Inter-network connectivity was assessed using the functional network connectivity (FNC) toolbox. The inter- and intra-network FC was compared between time points, and the z value of FC alternation was correlated with the RT dose value and cognitive changes. Compared with baseline, the FC of the left anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) within the DMN, and the right insular within the SN, significantly reduced 3 months post-RT, with greater effects at higher doses in the right insular. Bilateral ECN FC was also significantly lower 3 months post-RT compared to the baseline. Chemotherapy was not associated with inter- and intra- network FC change. We found intra- and inter-network FC disruption in NPC patients 3 months post-RT, with the right insular showing a dose-dependent effect. Thus, this network-level FC may serve as a potential biomarker of the RT-induced brain functional impairments, and provide valuable targets for further functional recovery treatment.
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We thank LetPub (http://www.letpub.com) for its linguistic assistance during the preparation of this manuscript.
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This work was funded by grants from the Natural Scientific Foundation of China (grant numbers: 81401399, 81560283, and 81201084), Natural Scientific Foundation of Jiangxi Province, China (grant number: 20151BAB205049), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant number: 15ykpy35), and Medical Scientific Research Foundation of Guangdong Province (Grant number: B2014162).
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Qiu, Y., Guo, Z., Han, L. et al. Network-level dysconnectivity in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) early post-radiotherapy: longitudinal resting state fMRI study. Brain Imaging and Behavior 12, 1279–1289 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-017-9801-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-017-9801-0