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Published on: June 26, 2013
Intrinsic Brain Abnormalities in Patients with Hepatitis C Virus Infection with Cognitive Impairment: A Preliminary
Xiao-Hong Zhang1, Jia-Yan Shi1, Chuanyin Zhan1
1Department of Radiology, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou 350001, China.
Purpose:
Patients with a hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection frequently exhibit various neuropsychiatric complications such as cognitive decline. This study is aimed at investigating alterations in regional and network-level neural function in patients with HCV infection and examining the association between these alterations and patients' cognition dysfunction.
Methods:
The study included 17 patients with HCV infection and 17 healthy controls. These individuals had undergone resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging as well as cognitive assessment using a battery of tests that were collectively called the "psychometric hepatic encephalopathy score (PHES)" examination. Analyses of amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and seed-based functional connectivity (FC) were conducted to assess, respectively, regional neural function and functional integration.
Results:
HCV-infected patients performed significantly worse in cognitive tests. In the HCV group, ALFF decreased in Region 1 (left medial frontal gyrus and bilateral anterior cingulate gyrus) and Region 2 (right middle and superior frontal gyrus). The HCV group showed lower FC between Region 1 and right middle frontal gyrus, whereas they presented an increase in FC between Region 2 and the left supramarginal gyrus/superior temporal gyrus and right supramarginal gyrus. No significant correlation was observed between ALFF/FC measurements and PHES result.
Conclusion:
This preliminary study presents additional evidence that HCV infection affects brain function, including local intrinsic neural activity and global functional integration.
