Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 4, 2026
14:27
Identification of Disease-related Spatial Covariance Patterns using Neuroimaging Data
Published on: June 26, 2013
16.4K
Gray matter microstructural alterations and their correlation with systemic biomarkers in hepatic encephalopathy: a
Fengli Xie1, Xiaohui Wang1, Huina Zhang1
1Medical Imaging Center, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, China.
Frontiers in Neurology
|March 18, 2026
Summary
Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging (NODDI) reveals widespread microstructural brain changes in hepatic encephalopathy (HE). These alterations in brain structure correlate with specific blood markers, suggesting NODDI
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Diffusion MRI
- Neuronal Microstructure
Background:
- Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) presents complex neurobiological changes not easily quantified by conventional MRI.
- Microstructural alterations in HE patients are not well understood.
- The globus pallidus (GP) is a region of interest due to potential manganese deposition in HE.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize microstructural brain alterations in HE patients using Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging (NODDI) and Gray-matter Based Spatial Statistics (GBSS).
- To explore the relationship between brain microstructural changes in the globus pallidus (GP) and clinical biochemical markers in HE.
- To investigate the utility of NODDI in assessing HE-related brain changes.
Main Methods:
- 3 Tesla MRI with a multi-shell diffusion protocol for NODDI was performed on 33 HE patients and 31 healthy controls.
- Gray-matter Based Spatial Statistics (GBSS) was used to analyze differences in Neurite Density Index (NDI) and Orientation Dispersion Index (ODI).
- Pearson correlation was employed to examine relationships between GP NODDI parameters and blood biochemical indices.
Main Results:
- HE patients showed significantly decreased NDI in widespread cortical and sub-cortical regions and increased ODI in the cerebellum/vermis.
- Exploratory analysis of the globus pallidus (GP) revealed positive correlations between right GP NDI and indirect bilirubin/prothrombin international normalized ratio.
- Left GP ODI positively correlated with hemoglobin concentration in HE patients.
Conclusions:
- NODDI effectively detects extensive microstructural alterations in HE, including reduced NDI and cerebellar changes.
- Dissociated correlations of GP NDI and ODI with blood markers suggest a potential "double-hit" pathophysiological model.
- NODDI shows promise as a tool for monitoring HE progression and its metabolic impact.
