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Abnormalities in the thalamo-cortical network in patients with functional constipation

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Abstract

Functional constipation (FCon) is a common functional gastrointestinal disorder (FGID); neuroimaging studies have shown brain functional abnormalities in thalamo-cortical regions in patients with FGID. However, association between FCon and topological characteristics of brain networks remains largely unknown. We employed resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (RS-fMRI) and graph theory approach to investigate functional brain topological organization in 42 patients with FCon and 41 healthy controls (HC) from perspectives of global, regional and modular levels. Results showed patients with FCon had a significantly lower normalized clustering coefficient and small-worldness, implying decreased brain functional connectivity. Regions showed altered nodal degree and efficiency mainly located in the thalamus, rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC), and supplementary motor area (SMA), which are involved in somatic/sensory, emotional processing and motor-control. For the modular analysis, thalamus, rACC and SMA had an aberrant within-module nodal degree and nodal efficiency, and thalamus-related network exhibited abnormal interaction with the limbic network (amygdala and hippocampal gyrus). Nodal degree in the thalamus was negatively correlated with difficulty of defecation, and nodal degree in the rACC was negatively correlated with sensation of incomplete evacuation. These findings indicated that FCon was associated with abnormalities in the thalamo-cortical network.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 61431013, 81470816, 81730016, 31670828; National Natural Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province under Grant No. 2018JM3007; the Open Funding Project of National Key Laboratory of Human Factors Engineering, Grant No. 6142222190103; and National Clinical Research Center for Digestive Diseases, Xi’an, China under Grant No. 2015BAI13B07.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Brain Imaging, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi’an, 710126, Shaanxi, China

    Lei Liu, Chunxin Hu, Yang Hu, Wenchao Zhang, Zhida Zhang, Yueyan Ding, Yuanyuan Wang, Karen M. von Deneen, Jixin Liu & Yi Zhang

  2. State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, National Clinical Research Center for Digestive Diseases and Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, 710032, Shaanxi, China

    Lijuan Sun & Yongzhan Nie

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, 710032, Shaanxi, China

    Huaning Wang

  4. Department of Radiology, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, 710038, Shaanxi, China

    Shijun Duan & Guangbin Cui

  5. Xi’an Mayinglong Anorectal Hospital, Xi’an, 710032, Shaanxi, China

    Kuanrong Mao & Fan Wang

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  1. Lei Liu
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  16. Yongzhan Nie
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  17. Yi Zhang
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Contributions

YZ, JL and YN (study concept and design), YN, LS, HW, KM and FW (performed the diagnosis). GC and SD (acquisition of fMRI data), LL, CH, YH, WZ, ZZ, YD, and YW (data analysis and interpretation of findings), YZ and YN (drafted the manuscript), JL, KMD and YZ (provided critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content).

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jixin Liu, Yongzhan Nie or Yi Zhang.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Informed consent was obtained from all patients included in the study.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Liu, L., Hu, C., Hu, Y. et al. Abnormalities in the thalamo-cortical network in patients with functional constipation. Brain Imaging and Behavior 15, 630–642 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-020-00273-y

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