RESUMO
Objective Visceral pain in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) may be associated with the abnormal processing of pain in the central nervous system.The aim of the study is to investigate the characteristic changes of brain functions in the IBD patients using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) with the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) algorithm.Methods This study included 27 cases of IBD treated in our hospital from December 2015 to August of 2016 and 21 healthy volunteers as normal controls.We recorded the high-resolution structure imaging and rs-fMRI data, compared the brain activities of the two groups patients by ALFF analysis, and evaluated the correlation of the ALFF values with the clinical parameters of the IBD patients.Results Compared with the normal control group, the IBD patients showed significantly decreased ALFF values in the medial frontal gyrus, right putamen, right insula, left middle cingulate gyrus (MCC), and bilateral supplementary motor region (P<0.05), increased ALFF values in the middle frontal gyrus, left superior frontal gyrus, and medial prefrontal lobe region (P<0.05).The ALFF values in the inferior parietal lobule, precuneus and MCC of the IBD patients were correlated negatively with the blood sedimentation rate (r=-0.537,-0.588, and-0.588, P<0.05), disease course (P<0.05), and C-reactive protein (CRP) level (P<0.05), while that in the medial frontal gyrus positively with the CRP level (r=-0.623, P<0.001).Conclusion IBD patients have abnormal ALFF values in various brain regions, mainly in those involved in the processing of visceral pain and emotion.