title: Anatomically related gray and white matter alterations in the brains of functional dyspepsia patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Previous studies summarized altered brain functional patterns in functional dyspepsia (FD) patients, but how the brain structural patterns are related to FD remains largely unclear. The objective of this study was to determine the brain structural characteristics in FD patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Optimized voxel-based morphometry and tract-based spatial statistics were employed to investigate the changes in gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) respectively in 34 FD patients with postprandial distress syndrome and 33 healthy controls based on T1-weighted and diffusion-weighted imaging. The Pearson's correlation evaluated the link among GM alterations, WM abnormalities, and clinical variables in FD patients. The optimal brain structural parameters for identifying FD were explored using the receiver operating characteristic curve.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared to controls, FD patients exhibited a decrease in GM density (GMD) in the right posterior insula/temporal superior cortex (marked as pINS), right inferior frontal cortex (IFC), and left middle cingulate cortex, and an increase in fractional anisotropy (FA) in the posterior limb of the internal capsule, posterior thalamic radiation, and external capsule (EC). Interestingly, the GMD in the pINS was significantly associated with GMD in the IFC and FA in the EC. Moreover, the EC adjacent to the pINS provided the best performance for distinguishing FD patients from controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results showed pINS-related structural abnormalities in FD patients, indicating that GM and WM parameters were not affected independently. These findings would lay the foundation for probing an efficient target in the brain for treating FD.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nan
authors.affiliation: School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mu
authors.affiliation: School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: The 3rd Teaching Hospital, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: The 3rd Teaching Hospital, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zeng
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D004415:Dyspepsia / Q000473:pathology*; D066271:External Capsule / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000473:pathology; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000473:pathology*; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D020772:Internal Capsule / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D019518:Postprandial Period; D012372:ROC Curve; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology; D013788:Thalamus / Q000473:pathology; D066127:White Matter / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: ROC curve; TBSS; VBM; brain; functional dyspepsia