Sex Differences in White Matter Structure in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: MR Diffusion Fixel-Based Analysis

IF 2.3 4区医学 Q3 CLINICAL NEUROLOGY

Journal of Neuroimaging Pub Date : 2025-08-01 DOI:10.1111/jon.70072

Yan Yu, Jiancheng Fu, Meihao Wang, Ronghui Zhou, Chenhao Shan, Xinye Sun, Yuanjing Feng

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background and Purpose

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder prevalent among adolescents and exhibits notable sex dimorphism. Despite an increasing body of research, the impact of sex on ADHD remains underexplored. This study aimed to examine sex differences in white matter organization in children with ADHD using magnetic resonance (MR) diffusion data analyzed with fixel-based analysis (FBA), a novel technique that enables detailed assessment of both microstructural and macrostructural properties of white matter.

Methods

Fifty-five children with ADHD and 37 age-matched typically developing controls underwent MR diffusion. FBA was used to assess white matter structure. Group comparisons examined sex differences within and between groups, and correlation analyses were conducted between white matter features and clinical symptoms in the ADHD group.

Results

The results demonstrated that no significant sex differences were identified among healthy controls. However, within the ADHD group, the fiber cross-section (FC) metric revealed significant white matter alterations in several tracts, including the arcuate fasciculus, corpus callosum (CC), cingulum (CG), superior longitudinal fascicle, striato-fronto-orbital (ST_FO), and striato-precentral. In addition, the fiber density and cross-section metrics showed comparable abnormalities in the CC, CG, and ST_FO. Females with ADHD showed stronger correlations between FC metrics in bundles of white matter and clinical symptoms.

Conclusions

This study is the first to demonstrate sex differences in ADHD white matter bundles using FBA, contributing to a deeper understanding of the pathological mechanisms of ADHD and offering new insights for its diagnosis and treatment.

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注意缺陷多动障碍患者白质结构的性别差异：基于MR扩散固定的分析

背景与目的注意缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）是一种在青少年中普遍存在的神经发育障碍，表现出明显的性别二态性。尽管有越来越多的研究，但性对多动症的影响仍未得到充分探讨。本研究旨在研究ADHD儿童白质组织的性别差异，使用基于固定蛋白分析（FBA）的磁共振（MR）扩散数据进行分析，FBA是一种能够详细评估白质微观结构和宏观结构特性的新技术。方法55例ADHD患儿和37例年龄匹配的典型发育对照进行磁共振扩散检查。FBA评价脑白质结构。组间比较检查了组内和组间的性别差异，并分析了ADHD组中白质特征与临床症状之间的相关性。结果结果显示，在健康对照组中，性别差异不显著。然而，在ADHD组中，纤维横截面（FC）测量显示几个束的白质明显改变，包括弓状束、胼胝体（CC）、扣带（CG）、上纵束、纹状体-额-眶（ST_FO）和纹状体-中央前。此外，纤维密度和横截面指标显示CC、CG和ST_FO有类似的异常。患有ADHD的女性在白质束中的FC指标与临床症状之间表现出更强的相关性。结论本研究首次利用FBA分析ADHD白质束的性别差异，有助于深入了解ADHD的病理机制，为ADHD的诊断和治疗提供新的见解。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Neuroimaging 医学-核医学

CiteScore

4.70

自引率

0.00%

发文量

117

审稿时长

6-12 weeks

期刊介绍： Start reading the Journal of Neuroimaging to learn the latest neurological imaging techniques. The peer-reviewed research is written in a practical clinical context, giving you the information you need on: MRI CT Carotid Ultrasound and TCD SPECT PET Endovascular Surgical Neuroradiology Functional MRI Xenon CT and other new and upcoming neuroscientific modalities.The Journal of Neuroimaging addresses the full spectrum of human nervous system disease, including stroke, neoplasia, degenerating and demyelinating disease, epilepsy, tumors, lesions, infectious disease, cerebral vascular arterial diseases, toxic-metabolic disease, psychoses, dementias, heredo-familial disease, and trauma.Offering original research, review articles, case reports, neuroimaging CPCs, and evaluations of instruments and technology relevant to the nervous system, the Journal of Neuroimaging focuses on useful clinical developments and applications, tested techniques and interpretations, patient care, diagnostics, and therapeutics. Start reading today!