Altered spontaneous brain activity in patients with diabetic optic neuropathy: A resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study using regional homogeneity
Guiying Guo, Li-Juan Zhang, Biao Li, Rong‐Bin Liang, Qian‐Min Ge, Hui‐Ye Shu, Qiuyu Li, Yi‐Cong Pan, Chong-Gang Pei, Yi Shao
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Diabetes is a common chronic disease. Given the increasing incidence of diabetes, more individuals are affected by diabetic optic neuropathy (DON), which results in decreased vision. Whether DON leads to abnormalities of other visual systems, including the eye, the visual cortex, and other brain regions, remains unknown. AIM: To investigate the local characteristics of spontaneous brain activity using regional homogeneity (ReHo) in patients with DON. METHODS: We matched 22 patients with DON with 22 healthy controls (HCs). All subjects underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. The ReHo technique was used to record spontaneous changes in brain activity. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were applied to differentiate between ReHo values for patients with DON and HCs. We also assessed the correlation between Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale scores and ReHo values in DON patients using Pearson correlation analysis. RESULTS: < 0.0001, respectively). CONCLUSION: Three different brain regions show ReHo changes in DON patients, and these changes could serve as diagnostic and/or prognostic biomarkers to further guide the prevention and treatment of DON patients.