Abnormal resting brain activity of default mode network in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease / 中华神经医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To compare the default mode network (DMN) between patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and healthy controls (HCs).Methods Included for this study were 30 GERD patients who were treated at Department of Digestive Diseases,Zhujiang Hospital from September 2016 to December 2017 and contemporary 49 HCs who received health examination at the out-patient department.Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was conducted for the 2 groups.Fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) and regional homogeneity (ReHo) were used to study significant alterations in their DMN.Results Compared with the HCs,the GERD patients demonstrated the following alterations:the ReHo values were significantly decreased in bilateral superior temporal gyri,middle temporal gyri and dorsal anterior cingulate cortexes (dACC) but significantly increased in bilateral medial prefrontal lobes,dorsal anterior cingutates,posterior cingulates,precunei,and angular gyri;the fALFF value was increased in bilateral dACC and precunei but decreased in the paracentral lobules (P＜0.05).Conjunction analyses using both ReHo and fALFF values of their DMN showed the overlapping activated brain regions lied in the paracentral lobules,dACC and precunei.The fALFF values in the paracentral lobules and the dACC of the GERD patients were negatively correlated with their disease course (r=-0.380,P=0.035;r=-0.375,P=0.041) while the ReHo values in the superior temporal gyri of the GERD patients were also negatively correlated with their disease course (r=-0.446,P=0.016).Conclusion In GERD patients,their DMN might undergo dysfunctional changes because of the abnormal activity of DMN which may be correlated with their disorder of visceral sensation.