title: Cerebral Activity Changes in Different Traditional Chinese Medicine Patterns of Psychogenic Erectile Dysfunction Patients.
abstract: Background. Pattern differentiation is the foundation of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatment for erectile dysfunction (ED). This study aims to investigate the differences in cerebral activity in ED patients with different TCM patterns. Methods. 27 psychogenic ED patients and 27 healthy subjects (HS) were enrolled in this study. Each participant underwent an fMRI scan in resting state. The fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) was used to detect the brain activity changes in ED patients with different patterns. Results. Compared to HS, ED patients showed an increased cerebral activity in bilateral cerebellum, insula, globus pallidus, parahippocampal gyrus, orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and middle cingulate cortex (MCC). Compared to the patients with liver-qi stagnation and spleen deficiency pattern (LSSDP), the patients with kidney-yang deficiency pattern (KDP) showed an increased activity in bilateral brainstem, cerebellum, hippocampus, and the right insula, thalamus, MCC, and a decreased activity in bilateral putamen, medial frontal gyrus, temporal pole, and the right caudate nucleus, OFC, anterior cingulate cortex, and posterior cingulate cortex (P < 0.005). Conclusions. The ED patients with different TCM patterns showed different brain activities. The differences in cerebral activity between LSSDP and KDP were mainly in the emotion-related regions, including prefrontal cortex and cingulated cortex.
authors.affiliation: The 3rd Teaching Hospital, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan 610075, China.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: The Urology and Andrology Department, Sichuan Integrative Medicine Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China ; The Urology and Andrology Department, The 1st Teaching Hospital, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan 610072, China.
authors.forename: Peihai
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: The Urology and Andrology Department, Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Meishan City, Meishan, Sichuan 620010, China.
authors.forename: Junjie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: The 3rd Teaching Hospital, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan 610075, China.
authors.forename: Zhengjie
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Life Sciences Research Center, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710071, China.
authors.forename: Jixin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: The Urology and Andrology Department, The 1st Teaching Hospital, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan 610072, China.
authors.forename: Guangsen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Life Sciences Research Center, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710071, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: The Urology and Andrology Department, The 1st Teaching Hospital, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan 610072, China.
authors.forename: Yaodong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: You
authors.affiliation: The Andrology Department, The 2nd Teaching Hospital, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China.
authors.forename: Xujun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Life Sciences Research Center, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710071, China.
authors.forename: Jinbo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Life Sciences Research Center, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710071, China.
authors.forename: Minghao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The Center for Medical Imaging, Huaxi MR Research Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China.
authors.forename: Qiyong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: The Andrology Department, Xiyuan Hospital of China Academy of Chinese Medical Science, Beijing 100091, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: The Urology and Andrology Department, The 1st Teaching Hospital, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan 610072, China ; The Andrology Department, The 2nd Teaching Hospital, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China.
authors.forename: Degui
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chang