title: Aberrant Resting-State Functional Connectivity Density in Patients with Hepatitis B Virus-Related Cirrhosis.
abstract: There is increasing evidence that cirrhosis may affect functional connectivity among various brain regions in patients prior to onset of overt hepatic encephalopathy (HE). However, most investigators have focused mainly on alterations in functional connectivity strengths, and the changes in functional connectivity density (FCD) are largely unknown. Here, we investigated alterations in resting-state FCD in patients with hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis (HBV-RC) without overt HE. Totally, 31 patients with HBV-RC without overt HE and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy controls underwent resting-state functional MRI examinations. FCD mapping was employed to compute local and global FCD maps. Then, short-range and long-range FCD values were calculated and voxel-based comparisons were performed between the two groups. The HBV-RC group showed significant decreases in FCD, including decreased short-range FCDs in the bilateral middle cingulum gyrus/precuneus, the bilateral cuneus, and the left lingual gyrus/inferior occipital gyrus and decreased long-range FCD in the bilateral cuneus/precuneus. In addition, the decreased long-range FCD in the bilateral cuneus/precuneus in the HBV-RC group was related to performance on the psychometric hepatic encephalopathy score (PHES) test. These findings suggest aberrant functional connectivity density in cirrhotic patients prior to overt HE onset, which may provide better insight into understanding the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the cirrhotic-related cognitive impairment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou 510060, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Fei
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University (Guangzhou Huiai Hospital), Guangzhou 510370, China.
authors.forename: Hua-Wang
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou 510060, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou 510060, China.
authors.forename: Lu-Jun
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou 510060, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Guangdong No. 2 Provincial People's Hospital, Guangzhou 510317, China.
authors.forename: Ying-Wei
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Guangdong No. 2 Provincial People's Hospital, Guangzhou 510317, China.
authors.forename: Gui-Hua
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Medical Imaging Center, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
authors.forename: Xue-Lin
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou 510060, China.
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou 510060, China.
authors.forename: Chuan-Miao
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Xie
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006501:Hepatic Encephalopathy / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000821:virology; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000821:virology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged