Reduced rich-club connectivity is related to disability in primary progressive MS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Reduced rich-club connectivity is related to disability in primary progressive MS

AU - Stellmann, Jan-Patrick

AU - Hodecker, Sibylle

AU - Cheng, Bastian

AU - Wanke, Nadine

AU - Young, Kim Lea

AU - Hilgetag, Claus

AU - Gerloff, Christian

AU - Heesen, Christoph

AU - Thomalla, Götz

AU - Siemonsen, Susanne

PY - 2017/9

Y1 - 2017/9

N2 - OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the structural connectivity of the brain's rich-club organization is altered in patients with primary progressive MS and whether such changes to this fundamental network feature are associated with disability measures.METHODS: We recruited 37 patients with primary progressive MS and 21 healthy controls for an observational cohort study. Structural connectomes were reconstructed based on diffusion-weighted imaging data using probabilistic tractography and analyzed with graph theory.RESULTS: We observed the same topological organization of brain networks in patients and controls. Consistent with the originally defined rich-club regions, we identified superior frontal, precuneus, superior parietal, and insular cortex in both hemispheres as rich-club nodes. Connectivity within the rich club was significantly reduced in patients with MS (p = 0.039). The extent of reduced rich-club connectivity correlated with clinical measurements of mobility (Kendall rank correlation coefficient τ = -0.20, p = 0.047), hand function (τ = -0.26, p = 0.014), and information processing speed (τ = -0.20, p = 0.049).CONCLUSIONS: In patients with primary progressive MS, the fundamental organization of the structural connectome in rich-club and peripheral nodes was preserved and did not differ from healthy controls. The proportion of rich-club connections was altered and correlated with disability measures. Thus, the rich-club organization of the brain may be a promising network phenotype for understanding the patterns and mechanisms of neurodegeneration in MS.

AB - OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the structural connectivity of the brain's rich-club organization is altered in patients with primary progressive MS and whether such changes to this fundamental network feature are associated with disability measures.METHODS: We recruited 37 patients with primary progressive MS and 21 healthy controls for an observational cohort study. Structural connectomes were reconstructed based on diffusion-weighted imaging data using probabilistic tractography and analyzed with graph theory.RESULTS: We observed the same topological organization of brain networks in patients and controls. Consistent with the originally defined rich-club regions, we identified superior frontal, precuneus, superior parietal, and insular cortex in both hemispheres as rich-club nodes. Connectivity within the rich club was significantly reduced in patients with MS (p = 0.039). The extent of reduced rich-club connectivity correlated with clinical measurements of mobility (Kendall rank correlation coefficient τ = -0.20, p = 0.047), hand function (τ = -0.26, p = 0.014), and information processing speed (τ = -0.20, p = 0.049).CONCLUSIONS: In patients with primary progressive MS, the fundamental organization of the structural connectome in rich-club and peripheral nodes was preserved and did not differ from healthy controls. The proportion of rich-club connections was altered and correlated with disability measures. Thus, the rich-club organization of the brain may be a promising network phenotype for understanding the patterns and mechanisms of neurodegeneration in MS.

KW - Journal Article

U2 - 10.1212/NXI.0000000000000375

DO - 10.1212/NXI.0000000000000375

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 28804744

VL - 4

SP - e375

JO - NEUROL-NEUROIMMUNOL

JF - NEUROL-NEUROIMMUNOL

SN - 2332-7812

IS - 5

ER -