Alterations of gray matter volume and structural covariance network in unilateral frontal lobe low-grade gliomas.

Purpose: To explore the alterations of gray matter volume (GMV) and structural covariant network (SCN) in unilateral frontal lobe low-grade gliomas (FLGGs).

Materials and methods: The three dimensional (3D) T1 structural images of 117 patients with unilateral FLGGs and 68 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled. The voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis and graph theoretical analysis of SCN were conducted to investigate the impact of unilateral FLGGs on the brain structure. This represents the first structural MRI study integrating both voxel-level morphometric changes and network-level reorganization patterns in unilateral FLGGs.

Results: Through VBM analysis, we found that unilateral FLGGs can cause increased GMV in contralesional amygdala, calcarine, and angular gyrus, ipsilesional amygdala as well as vermis_6. The SCN of contralesional cerebrum, ipsilesional unaffected regions and cerebellum in both patients and HCs have typical small-world properties (Sigma > 1, Lambda ≈ 1 and Gamma > 1). Compared to HCs, global and nodal network metrics changed significantly in patients.

Conclusion: The combination of VBM and SCN analysis revealed both focal GMV enlargement and topological alterations in patients with unilateral FLGGs, and provide a novel perspective of cross regional morphological collaborative changes for understanding the glioma-related neuroadaptation. These findings may suggest potential neuroimaging correlates of adaptive changes, which could inform future investigations into personalized treatment approaches.

Clinical trial number: Not applicable.