Disrupted Gray Matter Structural Networks between Active and Inactive
Phases of Thyroid-Associated Ophthalmopathy
Abstract
Patients with thyroid-associated opthalmopathy reportedly exhibit
widespread morphological abnormalities in attention and default mode
network areas, but alterations in coordinated patterns of brain
structural networks underlying thyroid-associated opthalmopathy are
still poorly understood. This study aims to investigate the disruptions
in gray matter structural networks between thyroid-associated
opthalmopathy patients in active and inactive phases. We constructed
subject-wise structural networks based on gray matter volumetric
features for 37 active and 35 inactive thyroid-associated opthalmopathy
patients, and 23 healthy controls. Graph theory analysis was conducted
to assess the alterations of global and regional network topological
properties for thyroid-associated opthalmopathy patients and their
correlation with clinical characteristics. Compared with inactive
thyroid-associated opthalmopathy patients and controls, active
thyroid-associated opthalmopathy patients showed significantly decreased
global/local efficiency, and significant altered nodal betweenness
centrality in the visual, attention, default mode network and
sensorimotor areas. Intriguingly, the betweenness centrality of left
lingual gyrus was significantly negatively correlated with bilateral
intraocular pressure, and medial superior/opercular inferior frontal
gyrus was significantly correlated with anxiety and depression
parameters. Our results suggest that thyroid-associated opthalmopathy
patients at different clinical stages have segregated disruptions in
gray matter network topology, which may due to the visual function and
psychological changes. These findings may provide new insights into the
neurobiological mechanisms of thyroid-associated opthalmopathy.