Altered Spontaneous Brain Activity in Patients With Diabetic Osteoporosis Using Regional Homogeneity: A Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study
Min Liu, Jiang Li, Jiang Li, Juan Li, Juan Li, Hui Yang, Qianqian Yao, Xiuzhu Zheng, Zheng Zhang, Jian Qin
Abstract
Background: The pathophysiological mechanism of cognitive impairment by osteoporosis in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) remains unclear. This study aims to further investigate the regional spontaneous brain activity changes of patients with diabetic osteoporosis (DOP), and the correlation between abnormal brain regions and bone metabolites. Methods: -test was performed on individual normalized regional homogeneity (ReHo) maps. Spearman correlation analysis was performed between the abnormal ReHo regions with the clinical parameters and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA) scores. Results: In the DOP group, we demonstrated the significantly increased ReHo values in the left middle temporal gyrus (MTG), right superior occipital gyrus (SOG), aright superior parietal lobule (SPL), right angular gyrus (AG), and left precuneus (PE). Additionally, we also found a significant positive correlation between increased ReHo values in the left MTG and the average bone mineral density (BMD AVG), and average T scores (T AVG). The ReHo values of the right SOG and right SPL showed a negative correlation with MOCA scores, as well as a negative correlation between increased ReHo values in the right SPL and osteocalcin (OC) level. Conclusion: Patients with DOP showed increased spontaneous activity in multiple brain regions. The results indicated that osteoporosis exacerbated cognitive impairment and brain damage. Also, the OC might be considered as a bone marker to track the progression of cognitive impairment.