Neurovascular coupling changes in patients with magnetic resonance imaging negative focal epilepsy

• Published in: Epilepsy & behavior Vol. 138; p. 109035
• Main Authors: Xu, Honghao, Chen, Kefan, Zhu, Haitao, Bu, Jinxin, Yang, Lu, Chen, Fangqing, Ma, Haiyan, Qu, Xuefeng, Zhang, Rui, Liu, Hongyi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.01.2023
• Subjects: Brain; Brain Mapping - methods; Cerebral blood flow; Epilepsies, Partial; Focal epilepsy; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Magnetic resonance imaging negative; Neurovascular Coupling; Regional homogeneity; Spin Labels; MoCA; MRI; CBF; rs-fMRI; MNI; Cerebral blood flow; FWE; MMSE; ASL; SPSS; ReHo; Neurovascular coupling; ROIs; Focal epilepsy; AD; DST; SMA; EP; MCC; Magnetic resonance imaging negative; FEP; GMV; PCC; 3D; DRE; Regional homogeneity; HC; FD
• ISSN: 1525-5050; 1525-5069; 1525-5069
• DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2022.109035

•This study is the first to use ASL and rs-fMRI techniques to explore neuropathological mechanisms in epilepsy.•Magnetic resonance imaging negative focal epilepsy has neurovascular coupling changes.•The neurovascular coupling changes in FEP-MRI− positively correlate with disease duration and some neuropsychological assessments. Brain neuron activity is closely related to cerebral blood flow (CBF) changes. Alterations in the regional homogeneity (ReHo) and CBF occur in patients with magnetic resonance imaging negative focal epilepsy (FEP-MRI−). However, the coupling alterations of ReHo and CBF in FEP-MRI− remain unclear. The study aims to explore neurovascular coupling alterations and their clinical implication in FEP-MRI−. We collected resting-state magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from 31 healthy controls (HCs) and 48 patients with FEP-MRI−,including three-dimensional (3D) T1-weighted imaging, 3D arterial spin labeling (ASL) imaging,and resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI). The CBF and ReHo values were calculated from the ASL and rs-fMRI data, respectively. The CBF/ReHo ratio per voxel and whole-brain CBF-ReHo coupling were compared between the two groups. Correlation analysis involved the CBF/ReHo ratio and clinical indicators in FEP-MRI−. Patients with FEP-MRI− showed significantly increased cross-subject CBF-ReHo and global cross-voxel CBF-ReHo coupling. The CBF/ReHo ratio was higher in the bilateral orbitofrontal gyrus, right parietal lobe, and right middle frontal gyrus of patients with FEP-MRI−. Nevertheless, this ratio was lower in the bilateral supplementary motor areas, the left middle and posterior cingulate gyrus, and the right central sulcus cover. The CBF/ReHo ratio was markedly correlated with cognitive function, memory, intelligence, and epilepsy duration in the above abnormal brain regions. CBF/ReHo ratio may be useful as an indicator of neuropathological mechanisms. These results support the hypothesis that CBF/ReHo ratio relates to the neuropathological mechanisms of FEP-MRI−. Furthermore, it offers new perspectives for studying the mechanisms of MRI-negative epilepsy.