Brain white matter microstructural alterations in Behcet's syndrome correlate with cognitive impairment and disease severity: A diffusion tensor imaging study
Osman Aykan Kargin , Serdar Arslan , Bora Korkmazer , Sabriye Guner , Ayse Ozdede , Nursena Erener , Elif Burcu Ersungur Celik , Gulcin Baktiroglu , Rauf Hamid , Ahmet Oz , Burc Cagri Poyraz , Ugur Uygunoglu , Emire Seyahi , Osman Kizilkilic
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objectives
To evaluate the microstructural integrity of brain white matter tracts in patients with Neuro-Behcet's syndrome (NBS) and Behcet's syndrome (BS) without neurological manifestations using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and to investigate potential utility of DTI as a surrogate biomarker of neurocognitive functioning and disease severity.
Methods
This cross-sectional study comprised 34 NBS patients and 32 BS patients without neurological involvement, identified based on the International Study Group of the Behcet's disease (ISGBD) and the International Consensus Recommendation (ICR) criteria, as well as 33 healthy controls. Cognitive functions, including attention, memory, language, abstraction, executive control, visuospatial skills, and sensorimotor performance were assessed using standardized questionnaires. DTI data were analyzed using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) and automated probabilistic tractography to investigate inter-group differences. Subsequently, correlations between tensor-derived parameters of white matter tracts, neurocognitive test scores, and disease severity measures were examined.
Results
DTI revealed decreased fractional anisotropy and increased radial diffusivity, mean diffusivity, and axial diffusivity in both supratentorial and infratentorial white matter in NBS patients, indicating widespread loss of microstructural integrity. Moreover, this loss of integrity was also observed in BS patients without neurological manifestations, albeit to a lesser extent. In NBS patients, certain white matter tracts, including cingulum bundle, were associated with poor cognitive performance across multiple domains and disease severity.
Discussion
DTI findings might potentially serve as a neuroimaging marker to predict the extent of neurocognitive impairment and disease severity associated with central nervous system involvement in BS.
期刊介绍:
Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism provides access to the highest-quality clinical, therapeutic and translational research about arthritis, rheumatology and musculoskeletal disorders that affect the joints and connective tissue. Each bimonthly issue includes articles giving you the latest diagnostic criteria, consensus statements, systematic reviews and meta-analyses as well as clinical and translational research studies. Read this journal for the latest groundbreaking research and to gain insights from scientists and clinicians on the management and treatment of musculoskeletal and autoimmune rheumatologic diseases. The journal is of interest to rheumatologists, orthopedic surgeons, internal medicine physicians, immunologists and specialists in bone and mineral metabolism.