Abnormal structural changes and disturbed functional connectivity in patients with Crohn’s disease and abdominal pain: a voxel-based morphometry and functional magnetic resonance imaging study

作者：Xinyan Wu, Ling Yang, Li Yu, Lingqin Zhang, Nian Liu, Xiaojun Lu, Kang Li · 发表于：Quantitative Imaging in Medicine and Surgery · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.21037/qims-2024-2572 · 被引用次数：2 · 研究领域：Functional Brain Connectivity Studies、Inflammatory Bowel Disease、Migraine and Headache Studies

Background: Abdominal pain is a prevalent and debilitating manifestation of Crohn's disease (CD) that significantly impacts the lives of those affected. The neurological pathways responsible for abdominal pain in patients with CD remain unidentified. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to characterize the structural alterations in the brain and associated functional connectivity (FC) in patients with CD and abdominal pain. Methods: The data for three-dimensional T1-weighted and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) were gathered from 23 patients with CD and abdominal pain (pain CD), 24 patients with CD but without abdominal pain (nonpain CD), and 25 healthy controls (HCs). Differences in gray-matter volume (GMV) and FC between the pain CD group, nonpain CD group, and HCs were evaluated via analysis of covariance. Biased correlation analyses were employed to evaluate the association of variations in GMV and FC with clinical measures. Results: Voxel-based morphometry analysis revealed that the pain CD group exhibited changes in GMV in the right anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and orbitofrontal regions, including the orbital parts of the superior frontal gyri, middle frontal gyri (ORBmid), and inferior frontal gyri, as compared to both the HC and nonpain CD groups. Additionally, compared to the HC group, the nonpain CD group showed increased GMV in the bilateral hippocampus. FC analysis showed that the pain CD group had enhanced FC between the right ACC...