Effect of Menopause Status on Brain Perfusion Hemodynamics.

BACKGROUND: The menopause transition is associated with an increasing risk of cerebrovascular disorders. However, the direct effect of menopause status on brain perfusion hemodynamics remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the influence of menopause status on cerebral blood flow (CBF) using arterial spin labeling magnetic resonance imaging. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 185 subjects underwent arterial spin labeling magnetic resonance imaging at a hospital in China between September 2020 and December 2022, including 38 premenopausal women (mean age, 47.74±2.02 years), 42 perimenopausal women (mean age, 50.62±3.15 years), 42 postmenopausal women (mean age, 54.02±4.09 years), and 63 men (mean age, 52.70±4.33 years) of a similar age range. Mean CBF values in the whole brain, gray matter, white matter, cortical gray matter, subcortical gray matter, juxtacortical white matter, deep white matter, and periventricular white matter were extracted. ANCOVA was used to compare mean CBF among the 4 groups, controlling for confounding factors. Student t test was applied to compare mean CBF between the 3 female groups and age-matched males, respectively. Multivariable regression analysis was used to analysis the effect of age, sex, and menopause status on the CBF of the whole brain, gray matter, white matter, and subregions. RESULTS: Perimenopausal and postmenopausal women showed a higher proportion of white matter hyperintensities compared with the other 2 groups (P<0.001). Premenopausal women exhibited higher CBF in the whole brain, gray matter, white matter, and subregions, compared with perimenopausal, postmenopausal women and men (P≤0.001). Multivariable regression analysis demonstrated significant effect of age and insignificant effect of sex on CBF for all participants. In addition, menopause status and the interaction between age and menopause status on CBF of whole brain, gray matter, white matter, and the subregions were observed in female participants, except for the deep and periventricular white matter regions, with premenopausal women exhibited a slight increase in CBF with age, while perimenopausal and postmenopausal women exhibited declines in CBF with age. CONCLUSIONS: The current findings suggest that alterations of brain perfusion hemodynamics begin during the perimenopause period, which may be due to the increased burden of white matter hyperintensities.

Metabolic interactions between organs in overweight and obesity using total-body positron emission tomography.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Overweight and obesity is a complex condition resulting from unbalanced energy homeostasis among various organs. However, systemic abnormalities in overweight and obese people are seldom explored in vivo by metabolic imaging techniques. The aim of this study was to determine metabolic abnormities throughout the body in overweight and obese adults using total-body positron emission tomography (PET) glucose uptake imaging. METHODS: Thirty normal weight subjects [body mass index (BMI) < 25 kg/m2, 55.47 ± 13.94 years, 16 men and 14 women], and 26 overweight and obese subjects [BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2, 52.38 ± 9.52 years, 21 men and 5 women] received whole-body 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET imaging using the uEXPLORER. Whole-body standardized uptake value normalized by lean body mass (SUL) images were calculated. Metabolic networks were constructed based on the whole-body SUL images using covariance network approach. Both group-level and individual-level network differences between normal weight and overweight/obese subjects were evaluated. Correlation analysis was conducted between network properties and BMI for the overweight/obese subjects. RESULTS: Compared with normal weight subjects, overweight/obese subjects exhibited altered network connectivity strength in four network nodes, namely the pancreas (p = 0.033), spleen (p = 0.021), visceral adipose tissue (VAT) (p = 1.12 × 10-5) and bone (p = 0.021). Network deviations of overweight/obese subjects from the normal weight were positively correlated with BMI (r = 0.718, p = 3.64 × 10-5). In addition, overweight/obese subjects experienced altered connections between organs, and some of the altered connections, including pancreas-right lung and VAT-bilateral lung connections were significantly correlated with BMI. CONCLUSION: Overweight/obese individuals exhibit metabolic alterations in organ level, and altered metabolic interactions at the systemic level. The proposed approach using total-body PET imaging can reveal individual metabolic variability and metabolic deviations between organs, which would open up a new path for understanding metabolic alterations in overweight and obesity.

Characterization of posterior circulation blood perfusion in patients with different degrees of basilar artery tortuosity.

OBJECTIVE: The morphology of basilar artery (BA) may affect posterior circulation blood perfusion. We aimed to investigate whether different degrees of BA tortuosity could lead to the alterations of posterior circulation perfusion. METHODS: We collected 138 subjects with different BA tortuosity scores, including 32 cases of score 0, 45 cases of score 1, 43 cases of score 2, and 18 cases of score 3. A higher score represented a higher degree of BA tortuosity. Ordered logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate the risk factors for BA tortuosity. We quantitatively measured the cerebral blood flow (CBF) in eight posterior circulation brain regions using arterial spin labeling. SPSS 25.0 was used for statistical analysis. The correlation between the CBF and BA tortuosity was corrected by the Bonferroni method. The significance level was set at 0.006 (0.05/8). RESULTS: Hypertension (HR: 2.39; 95%CI: 1.23-4.71; P = 0.01) and vertebral artery dominance (HR: 2.38; 95%CI: 1.10-4.67; P = 0.03) were risk factors for BA tortuosity. CBF in occipital gray matter (R = -0.383, P < 0.001), occipital white matter (R = -0.377, P < 0.001), temporal gray matter (R = -0.292, P = 0.001), temporal white matter (R = -0.297, P < 0.001), and cerebellum (R = -0.328, P < 0.001) were negatively correlated with BA tortuosity degree. No significant correlation was found between the BA tortuosity degree and CBF in hippocampus (R = -0.208, P = 0.014), thalamus (R = -0.001, P = 0.988) and brainstem (R = -0.204, P = 0.016). CONCLUSIONS: BA tortuosity could affect posterior circulation blood perfusion. CBF was negatively correlated with BA tortuosity degree. The morphology of BA may serve as a biomarker for posterior circulation and the severity of posterior circulation ischemia.

Resting-State Functional Connectivity of the Primary Visual Cortex in Children with Anisometropia Amblyopia.

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to explore the functional connectivity of the primary visual cortex (V1) in children with anisometropic amblyopia by using the resting-state functional connectivity analysis method and determine whether anisometropic amblyopia is associated with changes in brain function. METHODS: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were obtained from 16 children with anisometropia amblyopia (CAA group) and 12 healthy children (HC group) during the resting state. The Brodmann area 17 (BA17) was used as the region of interest, and the functional connection (FC) of V1 was analyzed in both groups. A two-sample t test was used to analyze the FC value between the two groups. Pearson's correlation was used to analyze the correlation between the mean FC value in the brain function change area of the CAA group and the best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of amblyopia. p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in age and sex between the CAA and HC groups (p > 0.05). Compared to the HC group, the CAA group showed lower FC values in BA17 and the left medial frontal gyrus, as well as BA17 and the left triangle inferior frontal gyrus. Conversely, the CAA group showed higher FC values in BA17 and the left central posterior gyrus. Notably, BCVA in amblyopia did not correlate with the area of change in mean FC in the brain function of the CAA group. CONCLUSION: Resting-state fMRI-based functional connectivity analysis indicates a significant alteration in V1 of children with anisometropic amblyopia. These findings contribute additional insights into the neuropathological mechanisms underlying visual impairment in anisometropic amblyopia.

Radiomics based on multiple machine learning methods for diagnosing early bone metastases not visible on CT images.

OBJECTIVES: This study utilizes [99mTc]-methylene diphosphate (MDP) single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) images as a reference standard to evaluate whether the integration of radiomics features from computed tomography (CT) and machine learning algorithms can identify microscopic early bone metastases. Additionally, we also determine the optimal machine learning approach. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively studied 63 patients with early bone metastasis from July 2020 to March 2023. The ITK-SNAP software was used to delineate early bone metastases and normal bone tissue in SPECT images of each patient, which were then registered onto CT images to outline the volume of interest (VOI). The VOI includes 63 early bone metastasis volumes and 63 normal bone tissue volumes. 126 VOIs were randomly distributed in a 7:3 ratio between the training and testing groups, and 944 radiomics features were extracted from every VOI. We established 20 machine learning models using 5 feature selection algorithms and 4 classification methods. Evaluate the performance of the model using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). RESULTS: Most machine learning models demonstrated outstanding discriminative capacity, with AUCs higher than 0.70. Notably, the K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) classifier exhibited significant performance improvement compared to the other four classifiers. Specifically, the model constructed utilizing eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) feature selection method integrated with KNN classifier achieved the maximum AUC, which is 0.989 in the training set and 0.975 in the testing set. CONCLUSIONS: Radiomics features integrated with machine learning methods can identify early bone metastases that are not visible on CT images. In our analysis, KNN is considered the optimal classification method.

Effect of abdominal adipose tissue glucose uptake on brain aging.

INTRODUCTION: Abdominal adipose tissue (AT) mass has adverse effects on the brain. This study aimed to investigate the effect of glucose uptake by abdominal AT on brain aging. METHODS: Three-hundred twenty-five participants underwent total-body positron emission tomography scan. Brain age was estimated in an independent test set (n = 98) using a support vector regression model that was built using a training set (n = 227). Effects of abdominal subcutaneous and visceral AT (SAT/VAT) glucose uptake on brain age delta were evaluated using linear regression. RESULTS: Higher VAT glucose uptake was linked to negative brain age delta across all subgroups. Higher SAT glucose uptake was associated with negative brain age delta in lean individuals. In contrast, increased SAT glucose uptake demonstrated positive trends with brain age delta in female and overweight/obese participants. DISCUSSION: Increased glucose uptake of the abdominal VAT has positive influences on the brain, while SAT may not have such influences, except for lean individuals. HIGHLIGHTS: Higher glucose uptake of the visceral adipose tissue was linked to decelerated brain aging. Higher glucose uptake of the subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) was associated with negative brain age delta in lean individuals. Faster brain aging was associated with increased glucose uptake of the SAT in female and overweight and obese individuals.

Identifying individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder based on multisite resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging: A radiomics analysis.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders, characterized by symptoms of age-inappropriate inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. Apart from behavioral symptoms investigated by psychiatric methods, there is no standard biological test to diagnose ADHD. This study aimed to explore whether the radiomics features based on resting-state functional magnetic resonance (rs-fMRI) have more discriminative power for the diagnosis of ADHD. The rs-fMRI of 187 subjects with ADHD and 187 healthy controls were collected from 5 sites of ADHD-200 Consortium. A total of four preprocessed rs-fMRI images including regional homogeneity (ReHo), amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF), voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) and network degree centrality (DC) were used in this study. From each of the four images, we extracted 93 radiomics features within each of 116 automated anatomical labeling brain areas, resulting in a total of 43,152 features for each subject. After dimension reduction and feature selection, 19 radiomics features were retained (5 from ALFF, 9 from ReHo, 3 from VMHC and 2 from DC). By training and optimizing a support vector machine model using the retained features of training dataset, we achieved the accuracy of 76.3% and 77.0% (areas under curve = 0.811 and 0.797) in the training and testing datasets, respectively. Our findings demonstrate that radiomics can be a novel strategy for fully utilizing rs-fMRI information to distinguish ADHD from healthy controls. The rs-fMRI-based radiomics features have the potential to be neuroimaging biomarkers for ADHD.

SNIP1 reduces extracellular matrix degradation and inflammation via inhibiting the NF-κB signaling pathway in osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis (OA), the most common joint disease, is characterized by inflammation and cartilage degradation. Previous studies illustrated that Smad nuclear-interacting protein 1 (SNIP1) is an inhibitor of the TGF-ß signal transduction pathway and SNIP1 has been reported as an anti-inflammatory factor. This study aimed to explore the role of SNIP1 in OA progression. In this study, the SNIP1 expression was evaluated in OA human and OA mice tissue and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1ß)-induced chondrocytes. The Safranin-O (SO) staining and osteoarthritis research society international (OARSI) scoring system was used to evaluate cartilage injury. The gain- and loss-of-function studies for SNIP1 were performed in chondrocytes. The SNIP1 overexpression adenovirus was injected into mice by intra-articular injection. The SNIP1 expression was decreased in OA patients, OA mice, and IL-1ß-stimulated chondrocytes. The cartilage injury of medial meniscus-induced OA (DMM-OA) mice at 8 weeks showed more severe than that at 4 weeks. The expression of SNIP1 was lower at 8 weeks than that at 4 weeks. In IL-1ß-stimulated chondrocytes, SNIP1 overexpression reduced the expression of TNF-α and IL-6, alleviated ECM degradation, reduced the phosphorylation levels of p65 and IκBα, and decreased the p65 level in nuclear. Moreover, overexpression of SNIP1 alleviated cartilage injury in DMM-OA mice. In brief, our study suggested that SNIP1 alleviated OA and repressed inflammation by inhibiting the activation of NF-κB. This study might provide a new insight into OA treatment.

Application of Intravoxel Incoherent Motion in Clinical Liver Imaging: A Literature Review.

Intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) modeling is a widely used double-exponential model for describing diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) signal, with a slow component related to pure molecular diffusion and a fast component associated with microcirculatory perfusion, which compensates for the limitations of traditional DWI. IVIM is a noninvasive technique for obtaining liver pathological information and characterizing liver lesions, and has potential applications in the initial diagnosis and treatment monitoring of liver diseases. Recent studies have demonstrated that IVIM-derived parameters are useful for evaluating liver lesions, including nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), liver fibrosis and liver tumors. However, the results are not stable. Therefore, it is necessary to summarize the current applications of IVIM in liver disease research, identify existing shortcomings, and point out the future development direction. In this review, we searched for studies related to hepatic IVIM-DWI applications over the past two decades in the PubMed database. We first introduce the fundamental principles and influential factors of IVIM, and then discuss its application in NAFLD, liver fibrosis, and focal hepatic lesions. It has been found that IVIM is still unstable in ensuring the robustness and reproducibility of measurements in the assessment of liver fibrosis grade and liver tumors differentiation, due to inconsistent and substantial overlap in the range of IVIM-derived parameters for different fibrotic stages. In the end, the future direction of IVIM-DWI in the assessment of liver diseases is discussed, emphasizing the need for further research on the stability of IVIM-derived parameters, particularly perfusion-related parameters, in order to promote the clinical practice of IVIM-DWI. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 5 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 3.

A review of multi-modal magnetic resonance imaging studies on perimenopausal brain: a hint towards neural heterogeneity.

The population ageing process worldwide is leading to an increasing number of women in the perimenopausal phase. Many of the perimenopausal symptoms, such as headache, depression, insomnia, and cognitive decline, are neurological in nature. Therefore, the study of the perimenopausal brain is of great importance. In addition, relevant studies can also provide an imaging basis for multiple therapies to treat perimenopausal symptoms. Because of its non-invasive nature, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has now been widely applied to the study of perimenopausal brains, revealing alterations in the brain associated with symptoms during the menopause transition. In this review, we collected papers and works of literature on the perimenopausal brain using MRI techniques in the Web of Science database. We firstly described the general principles and analysis methods of different MRI modalities briefly and then reviewed the structural, functional, perfusion, and metabolic compounds changes in the brain of perimenopausal women respectively, and described the latest advances in probing the perimenopausal brain using MRI, resulting in summary diagrams and figures. Based on the summary of existing works of the literature, this review further provided a perspective on multi-modal MRI studies in the perimenopausal brain, suggesting that population-based, multi-center, and longitudinal studies will be beneficial to the comprehensive understanding of changes in the perimenopausal brain. In addition, we found a hint towards neural heterogeneity in the perimenopausal brain, which should be addressed by future MRI studies to provide more help for the precise diagnosis and personalized treatment of perimenopausal symptoms. KEY POINTS: • Perimenopause is not only a physiological transition but also a period of neurological transition. • Multi-modal MRI studies have revealed that perimenopause is accompanied by alterations in the brain, which is implicated in many perimenopausal symptoms. • The diversity in the multi-modal MRI findings may give a hint to neural heterogeneity in the perimenopausal brain.

Altered fMRI-derived functional connectivity in patients with high-tension glaucoma.

BACKGROUND: High-tension glaucoma (HTG) is associated with functional changes in the brain, and elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) is one of the major causes. PURPOSE: To evaluate the effects of high IOP on the brain in patients with HTG by using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-six patients with HTG and 20 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HCs) were recruited and underwent IOP examination and rs-fMRI scan. Voxel-wise functional connectivity (FC) values were obtained between the Brodmann Area (BA) 17 (primary visual cortex) and the rest of the brain, two-sample t test was performed between HTG group and HCs. Correlation analysis was performed between FC and clinical information. RESULTS: Compared with HCs, HTG patients demonstrated decreased FC between BA 17 and the right precuneus gyrus, decreased FC between BA 17 and the right superior frontal gyrus (SFG) (GRF corrected at voxel level P<0.001 and cluster level P<0.05, two-tailed). FC between BA 17 and the right SFG showed significantly negative correlation with right eyes' IOP and mean IOP. CONCLUSION: HTG patients had abnormal FC changes between the visual cortex and multiple functional brain regions related to visual sense, memory consolidation and cognitive processing, which provided image support for the pathophysiology research of HTG, and revealed new targets for the accurate treatment of HTG.

Aberrant functional connectivity in resting state networks of ADHD patients revealed by independent component analysis.

BACKGROUND: ADHD is one of the most common psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents. Altered functional connectivity has been associated with ADHD symptoms. This study aimed to investigate abnormal changes in the functional connectivity of resting-state brain networks (RSNs) among adolescent patients with different subtypes of ADHD. METHODS: The data were obtained from the ADHD-200 Global Competition, including fMRI data from 88 ADHD patients (56 patients of ADHD-Combined, ADHD-C and 32 patients of ADHD-Inattentive, ADHD-I) and 67 typically developing controls (TD-C). Group ICA was utilized to research aberrant brain functional connectivity within the different subtypes of ADHD. RESULTS: In comparison with the TD-C group, the ADHD-C group showed clusters of decreased functional connectivity in the left inferior occipital gyrus (p = 0.0041) and right superior occipital gyrus (p = 0.0011) of the dorsal attention network (DAN), supplementary motor area (p = 0.0036) of the executive control network (ECN), left supramarginal gyrus (p = 0.0081) of the salience network (SN), middle temporal gyrus (p = 0.0041), and superior medial frontal gyrus (p = 0.0055) of the default mode network (DMN), while the ADHD-I group showed decreased functional connectivity in the right superior parietal gyrus (p = 0.0017) of the DAN and left middle temporal gyrus (p = 0.0105) of the DMN. In comparison with the ADHD-I group, the ADHD-C group showed decreased functional connectivity in the superior temporal gyrus (p = 0.0062) of the AN, inferior temporal gyrus (p = 0.0016) of the DAN, and the dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus (p = 0.0082) of the DMN. All the clusters surviving at p < 0.05 (AlphaSim correction). CONCLUSION: The results suggested that decreased functional connectivity within the DMN and DAN was responsible, at least in part, for the symptom of inattention in ADHD-I patients. Similarly, we believed that the impaired functional connectivity within networks may contribute to the manifestations of ADHD-C patients, including inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, and unconscious movements.

Aberrant gray matter volumes and functional connectivity in adolescent patients with ADHD.

BACKGROUND: Altered gray matter (GM) volumes and functional connectivity (FC) happens in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) patients and the intelligence quotient (IQ) of ADHD patients is generally lower than healthy subjects, while few studies have focused on the association among the three. PURPOSE: To investigate the abnormal changes of GM volumes and FC in ADHD patients compared with typically-developing control (TD-C), as well as the association between the changes and IQ. STUDY TYPE: Case control. POPULATION: 36 ADHD patients and 36 TD-C, aged 8-17. FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE: 3.0T/single shot echo planar imaging (EPI). ASSESSMENT: Preprocessing of fMRI data and seed-based FC calculation using DPABI4.0, and VBM was performed by CAT12. STATISTICAL TESTS: Comparison between groups of smoothed GM volumes was performed using two-sample t-test within SPM 12, age and total intracranial volume (TIV) were returned as covariates. Comparison between groups of FCs was performed using a two-sample t-test within RESTplus; age was returned as a covariate. False discovery rate (FDR)-corrected and P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Compared with TD-C, reduced GM volumes occurred in the left superior frontal gyrus (t = -3.61, P < 0.001), right middle frontal gyrus (t = -3.97, P < 0.001), left middle cingulum (t = -3.93, P < 0.001), and left cuneus (t = -4.42, P < 0.001). Decreased FC was found between the left precuneus and left middle cingulum (t = -5.86, P < 0.001), left middle temporal gyrus, and left superior frontal gyrus (t = -5.67, P < 0.001), as well as left medial superior frontal gyrus and left superior frontal gyrus (t = -6.73, P < 0.001). DATA CONCLUSION: The results confirmed that FCs between the regions with declined GM volumes and others were altered in ADHD patients. We speculated that abnormal changes of GM volume and FC maybe used as an imaging metric of ADHD. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2 Technical Efficacy: Stage 4 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2020;51:719-726.

Brain morphological alterations of cerebral cortex and subcortical nuclei in high-tension glaucoma brain and its associations with intraocular pressure.

PURPOSE: To investigate brain morphological alterations of high-tension glaucoma patients and explore the association between brain morphological changes and elevated intraocular pressure. METHODS: Thirty-six patients with high-tension glaucoma and 20 healthy controls were collected and underwent structural MRI scan. Surface-based morphometry and voxel-based morphometry were applied to assess cortical thickness and subcortical gray matter volume of the enrolled subjects. The association between brain morphometry and intraocular pressure was assessed by partial correlation. RESULTS: Compared with healthy controls, high-tension glaucoma patients showed decreased cortical thickness in the bilateral superior temporal gyrus, bilateral superior parietal gyrus, bilateral lateral occipital gyrus, left fusiform gyrus, left medial orbitofrontal gyrus, right precentral gyrus, and right superior frontal gyrus (p < 0.05). High-tension glaucoma patients also showed reduced gray matter volume in the right hippocampus, bilateral putamen, and bilateral thalamus (p < 0.05). In addition, brain morphological correlates of mean intraocular pressure were found in the left rostral middle frontal gyrus, right precentral gyrus, and left postcentral gyrus in high-tension glaucoma group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: High-tension glaucoma patients experienced morphological reduction in the visual and nonvisual areas throughout the entire brain. Elevated intraocular pressure may contribute to the reduction of cortical thickness in certain areas in the progression of the disease.

Enhanced Gray Matter Volume Compensates for Decreased Brain Activity in the Ocular Motor Area in Children with Anisometropic Amblyopia.

Purpose: Anisometropic amblyopia usually occurs during early childhood and results in monocular visual deficit. Recent neuroimaging studies have demonstrated structural and functional alterations in pediatric anisometropic amblyopia (PAA) patients. However, the relationship between structural and functional alterations remains largely unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between structural and functional alterations in PAA patients. Materials and Methods: Eighteen PAA patients and 14 healthy children underwent a multimodal MRI scanning including T1WI and functional MRI (fMRI). Voxel-based morphometry was used to assess structural alterations between PAA patients and healthy children. Regional homogeneity (ReHo) was used to investigate changes in local spontaneous brain activity in the enrolled subjects. Correlations between structural, functional alterations, and clinical information were analyzed in the PAA group. Results: Compared with healthy children, PAA patients exhibited significantly reduced ReHo of spontaneous brain activity in the right superior temporal gyrus (STG) and right middle frontal gyrus (MFG) and increased gray matter volume in the right lobules 4 and 5 of the cerebellum. The gray matter volume of the right lobules 4 and 5 of the cerebellum was negatively correlated with the ReHo values of the right MFG. Conclusions: Our findings may suggest that PAA patients experience structural and functional abnormalities in brain regions related to oculomotor and visual-spatial information. In addition, the increased gray matter volume may compensate the decreased brain activity in the oculomotor regions, which reflects compensatory or neural plasticity in PAA patients.

Effect of Sex Hormones on Brain Connectivity Related to Sexual Function in Perimenopausal Women: A Resting-State fMRI Functional Connectivity Study.

BACKGROUND: Perimenopause is associated with increased risk of depression, vasomotor symptoms, and sexual dysfunction. AIMS: To explore the effect of sex hormones on the functional connectivity (FC) of different brain regions related to sexual function in perimenopausal women. METHODS: 32 premenopausal women (mean age, 47.75 ± 1.55 years) and 25 perimenopausal women (mean age, 51.60 ± 1.63 years) underwent sex hormone level measurements and resting-state fMRI. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Serum levels of sex hormones, including prolactin (PRL), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteotropic hormone (LH), estradiol (E2), free testosterone (free-T), and progesterone (P), were measured. 10 brain regions related to sexual function were selected according to a meta-analysis, and FCs of the selected regions of interest were calculated as Pearson's correlation coefficient. RESULTS: Compared with premenopausal women, perimenopausal women showed increased FC between the right area 13 (A13_r) and the right medial superior frontal gyrus (mSFG), between the left dorsal granular insula (dIg_L) and the right superior frontal gyrus (SFG) (Gaussian random field-corrected at the voxel level, P < .001, and cluster level, P < .025). Furthermore, the PRL level was negatively correlated with the FC of A13_R with the right mSFG and the FC of dIg_L with the right SFG. CLINICAL TRANSLATION: These findings may be applicable to assessing brain dysfunction with FC changes in women approaching menopause. STRENGTHS & LIMITATIONS: This study is the first to evaluate a direct relationship between sex hormone levels and brain FC changes in women approaching menopause. Sexual function was not assessed, which may weaken the conclusions related to sexual function. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that women approaching menopause suffered from aberrant intrinsic FC in regions related to sexual function, and reveal a direct relationship between serum sex hormone levels and FC changes related to sexual function. Lu W, Guo W, Cui D, et al. Effect of Sex Hormones on Brain Connectivity Related to Sexual Function in Perimenopausal Women: A Resting-State fMRI Functional Connectivity Study. J Sex Med 2019;16:711-720.

Age-related changes in fiber tracts in healthy adult brains: A generalized q-sampling and connectometry study.

BACKGROUND: Generalized q-sampling (GQI) and connectometry analysis provide new indices, i.e., quantitative anisotropy (QA) and spin distribution function (SDF) in comparison with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). They may provide more age-related changes in white matter (WM) in aging. PURPOSE: To investigate the feasibility of using GQI and connectometry analysis to determine WM properties changes in aging. STUDY TYPE: Cross-cohort research. POPULATION: Fifty normal adults (27 females) aged 21-71 years. FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE: T1 -weighted images (T1 WI) and high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) images were acquired at 1.5T. ASSESSMENT: HARDI data were analyzed using DTI and GQI to obtain fractional anisotropy (FA), QA, fiber numbers, and fiber lengths for tract analysis and using q-space diffeomorphic reconstruction (QSDR) for the connectometry analysis. We compared differences of DTI, GQI, and connectometry analysis to reflect WM changes in aging. STATISTICAL TESTS: Associations between FA, QA, and fiber numbers and lengths and age were analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficients. The connectometry analysis was conducted using a multiple linear regression analysis, including age and gender as factors. Uncorrected P-value/false discovery rate (FDR) (corrected for multiple comparisons) < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: More regional changes were detected in FA related to age than changes in QA (17 > 6 regions, P < 0.05). Fewer regional changes in fiber numbers and more changes of fiber lengths were observed for DTI than for GQI (5 < 8/10 > 7 regions, P < 0.05). However, DTI and GQI analyses revealed consistent results in some regions, including the genu of the corpus callosum (GCC), body of the corpus callosum (BCC), fornix (Fx), and anterior coronal radiation (ACR) (P < 0.05). The connectometry analysis showed more tract changes associated with age at an FDR of 0.05, which partially overlapped with the FA and QA. DATA CONCLUSION: GQI and connectometry provide more information about age-related tracts and complement the DTI findings. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2 Technical Efficacy: Stage 2 J. MAGN. RESON. IMAGING 2018;48:369-381.

Performance and application of the total-body PET/CT scanner: a literature review.

BACKGROUND: The total-body positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) system, with a long axial field of view, represents the state-of-the-art PET imaging technique. Recently, the total-body PET/CT system has been commercially available. The total-body PET/CT system enables high-resolution whole-body imaging, even under extreme conditions such as ultra-low dose, extremely fast imaging speed, delayed imaging more than 10 h after tracer injection, and total-body dynamic scan. The total-body PET/CT system provides a real-time picture of the tracers of all organs across the body, which not only helps to explain normal human physiological process, but also facilitates the comprehensive assessment of systemic diseases. In addition, the total-body PET/CT system may play critical roles in other medical fields, including cancer imaging, drug development and immunology. MAIN BODY: Therefore, it is of significance to summarize the existing studies of the total-body PET/CT systems and point out its future direction. This review collected research literatures from the PubMed database since the advent of commercially available total-body PET/CT systems to the present, and was divided into the following sections: Firstly, a brief introduction to the total-body PET/CT system was presented, followed by a summary of the literature on the performance evaluation of the total-body PET/CT. Then, the research and clinical applications of the total-body PET/CT were discussed. Fourthly, deep learning studies based on total-body PET imaging was reviewed. At last, the shortcomings of existing research and future directions for the total-body PET/CT were discussed. CONCLUSION: Due to its technical advantages, the total-body PET/CT system is bound to play a greater role in clinical practice in the future.

Pseudo-time Series Structural MRI Revealing Progressive Gray Matter Changes with Elevated Intraocular Pressure in Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma: A Preliminary Study.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is accompanied with gray matter (GM) changes across the brain. However, causal relationships of the GM changes have not been fully understood. Our aim was to investigate the causality of GM progressive changes in POAG using Granger causality (GC) analysis and structural MRI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Structural MRI from 20 healthy controls and 30 POAG patients with elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) were collected. We performed voxel-wise GM volume comparisons between control and POAG groups, and between control and four POAG subgroups (categorized by IOP). Then, we sequenced the structural MRI data of all POAG patients and conducted both voxel-wise and region of interest (ROI)-wise GC analysis to investigate the causality of GM volume changes in POAG brain. RESULTS: Compared to healthy controls, reduced GM volumes across the brain were found, GM volume enlargements in the thalamus, caudate nucleus and cuneus were also observed in POAG brain (false discovery rate (FDR) corrected at q< 0.05). As IOP elevated, the reductions of GM volume were more severe in the cerebellum and frontal lobe. GC analysis revealed that the bilateral cerebellum, visual cortices, and the frontal regions served independently as primary hubs of the directional causal network, and projected causal effects to the parietal and temporal regions of the brain (FDR corrected at q<0.05). CONCLUSION: POAG exhibits progressive GM alterations across the brain, with oculomotor regions and visual cortices as independent primary hubs. The current results may deepen our understanding of neuropathology of POAG.

Localization and Risk Stratification of Thyroid Nodules in Ultrasound Images Through Deep Learning.

OBJECTIVE: Deep learning algorithms have commonly been used for the differential diagnosis between benign and malignant thyroid nodules. The aim of the study described here was to develop an integrated system that combines a deep learning model and a clinical standard Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (TI-RADS) for the simultaneous segmentation and risk stratification of thyroid nodules. METHODS: Three hundred four ultrasound images from two independent sites with TI-RADS 4 thyroid nodules were collected. The edge connection and Criminisi algorithm were used to remove manually induced markers in ultrasound images. An integrated system based on TI-RADS and a mask region-based convolution neural network (Mask R-CNN) was proposed to stratify subclasses of TI-RADS 4 thyroid nodules and to segment thyroid nodules in the ultrasound images. Accuracy and the precision-recall curve were used to evaluate stratification performance, and the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) between the segmentation of Mask R-CNN and the radiologist's contour was used to evaluate the segmentation performance of the model. RESULTS: The combined approach could significantly enhance the performance of the proposed integrated system. Overall stratification accuracy of TI-RADS 4 thyroid nodules, mean average precision and mean DSC of the proposed model in the independent test set was 90.79%, 0.8579 and 0.83, respectively. Specifically, stratification accuracy values for TI-RADS 4a, 4b and 4c thyroid nodules were 95.83%, 84.21% and 77.78%, respectively. CONCLUSION: An integrated system combining TI-RADS and a deep learning model was developed. The system can provide clinicians with not only diagnostic assistance from TI-RADS but also accurate segmentation of thyroid nodules, which improves the applicability of the system in clinical practice.