Disrupted Neural Activity in Individuals With Iridocyclitis Using Regional Homogeneity: A Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

• Main Authors: Yan Tong, Xin Huang, Chen-Xing Qi, Yin Shen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-02-01
• Series: Frontiers in Neurology
• Subjects: iridocyclitis; regional homogeneity; resting-state fMRI; spontaneous brain activity; inflammation
• Online Access: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2021.609929/full

Objective: This study used the regional homogeneity (ReHo) technique to explore whether spontaneous brain activity is altered in patients with iridocyclitis.Methods: Twenty-six patients with iridocyclitis (14 men and 12 women) and 26 healthy volunteers (15 men and 11 women) matched for sex and age were enrolled in this study. The ReHo technique was used to comprehensively assess changes in whole-brain synchronous neuronal activity. The diagnostic ability of the ReHo method was evaluated by means of receive operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Moreover, associations of average ReHo values in different brain areas and clinical characteristics were analyzed using correlation analysis.Result: Compared with healthy volunteers, reduced ReHo values were observed in patients with iridocyclitis in the following brain regions: the right inferior occipital gyrus, bilateral calcarine, right middle temporal gyrus, right postcentral gyrus, left superior occipital gyrus, and left precuneus. In contrast, ReHo values were significantly enhanced in the right cerebellum, left putamen, left supplementary motor area, and left inferior frontal gyrus in patients with iridocyclitis, compared with healthy volunteers (false discovery rate correction, P < 0.05).Conclusion: Patients with iridocyclitis exhibited disturbed synchronous neural activities in specific brain areas, including the visual, motor, and somatosensory regions, as well as the default mode network. These findings offer a novel image-guided research strategy that might aid in exploration of neuropathological or compensatory mechanisms in patients with iridocyclitis.