Altered topological patterns of brain functional networks in Crohn’s disease

Crohn’s disease (CD) has been reported to relate with the functional and structural alterations in several local brain regions. However, it remains unknown whether the possible abnormalities of information transmission and integration between brain regions are associated with CD. The purpose of this study was to investigate the topological alterations of brain functional networks and the potential relationships between the neuroimaging findings and CD clinical characteristics. 43 remissive CD patients and 37 matched healthy controls (HCs) were recruited to obtain their resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. Independent component analysis was applied to decompose fMRI data for building brain functional networks. The local and global topological properties of networks and connectivity of brain regions were computed within each group. We then examined the relationships between the topological patterns and CD clinical characteristics. Compared to HCs, CD patients exhibited disrupted local and global topological patterns of brain functional networks including the decreased nodal graph metrics in the subcortical, sensorimotor, cognitive control and default-mode networks and dysfunctional interactions within and among these four networks. The connectivity strength of putamen negatively correlated with CD duration in patients. Moreover, CD patients with high level of anxiety and/or depression had altered local topological patterns associated with anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) compared to other patients. By revealing CD-related changes in topological patterns of brain functional networks, our findings provide further neuroimaging evidence on the pathophysiology of CD involved in pain, sensory, emotional and/or cognitive processing.