Functional Connectivity Alterations in the Cholinergic Neural Circuits of Patients With Alzheimer's Disease: A Donepezil Intervention Study Using Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

IF 2.7 4区医学 Q3 NEUROSCIENCES

Journal of integrative neuroscience Pub Date : 2026-04-21 DOI:10.31083/JIN50039

Yufei Guo, Zhenzhong Zhang, Bo Chen, Hao Liu, Fuquan Wei, Xiaozheng Liu, Zhongwei Guo

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Although donepezil alleviates Alzheimer's disease (AD) symptoms by raising acetylcholine levels, its impact on cholinergic pathways remains unclear. In this longitudinal, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) study, we investigated donepezil-induced changes in cholinergic pathway networks in AD.

Methods: AD patients and healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled. AD patients received 24 weeks of donepezil treatment. Cognitive and emotional symptoms were assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD), and Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) pre- and post-treatment. rs-fMRI was used to examine basal forebrain (BF) functional connectivity.

Results: Sixteen AD patients and 16 HCs completed the study. Post-treatment MMSE scores improved, and NPI and CSDD scores decreased. Reduced BF functional connectivity in the left cerebellar lobule VI, post-treatment, was revealed by rs-fMRI. Compared with HCs, post-treatment AD patients showed lower BF functional connectivity in the right postcentral gyrus (PoG); pre-treatment patients exhibited higher BF functional connectivity in the left cerebellar lobule VI. Right PoG functional connectivity was negatively correlated with disease duration pre-treatment and positively correlated with MMSE post-treatment.

Conclusions: Donepezil improved clinical symptoms in AD by modulating the BF-PoG cholinergic pathway.

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阿尔茨海默病患者胆碱能神经回路的功能连通性改变：静息状态功能磁共振成像的多奈哌齐干预研究

背景：虽然多奈哌齐通过提高乙酰胆碱水平减轻阿尔茨海默病（AD）症状，但其对胆碱能通路的影响尚不清楚。在这项纵向静息状态功能磁共振成像（rs-fMRI）研究中，我们研究了多奈哌齐诱导的阿尔茨海默病胆碱能通路网络的变化。方法：纳入AD患者和健康对照（hc）。AD患者接受24周的多奈哌齐治疗。认知和情绪症状采用治疗前后的迷你精神状态检查（MMSE）、康奈尔痴呆抑郁量表（CSDD）和神经精神量表（NPI）进行评估。rs-fMRI检测基底前脑功能连通性。结果：16例AD患者和16例hcc患者完成了研究。治疗后MMSE评分提高，NPI和CSDD评分下降。rs-fMRI显示治疗后左侧小脑第六小叶BF功能连通性降低。与正常人相比，治疗后AD患者右侧中央后回（PoG）的BF功能连通性较低；治疗前患者左侧小脑第六小叶BF功能连通性较高，右侧PoG功能连通性与治疗前病程负相关，与治疗后MMSE正相关。结论：多奈哌齐通过调节BF-PoG胆碱能通路改善AD的临床症状。

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 integrative neuroscience 医学-神经科学

CiteScore

2.80

自引率

5.60%

发文量

173

审稿时长

2 months

期刊介绍： JIN is an international peer-reviewed, open access journal. JIN publishes leading-edge research at the interface of theoretical and experimental neuroscience, focusing across hierarchical levels of brain organization to better understand how diverse functions are integrated. We encourage submissions from scientists of all specialties that relate to brain functioning.