An examination of resting-state functional connectivity in patients with active Crohn's disease

Gita Thapaliya; Sally Eldeghaidy; Shellie J Radford; Susan T Francis; Gordon William Moran

doi:10.3389/fnins.2023.1265815

An examination of resting-state functional connectivity in patients with active Crohn's disease

Front Neurosci. 2023 Dec 6:17:1265815. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1265815. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Gita Thapaliya¹, Sally Eldeghaidy^{2

3

4}, Shellie J Radford⁴, Susan T Francis^{3

4}, Gordon William Moran^{3

4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.
² Division of Food, Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Biosciences, The University of Nottingham, Loughborough, United Kingdom.
³ Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom.
⁴ NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and School of Medicine, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom.
⁵ Translational Medical Sciences Unit, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Background: Alterations in resting state functional connectivity (rs-FC) in Crohn's Disease (CD) have been documented in default mode network (DMN) and frontal parietal network (FPN) areas, visual, cerebellar, salience and attention resting-state-networks (RSNs), constituting a CD specific neural phenotype. To date, most studies are in patients in remission, with limited studies in active disease.

Methods: Twenty five active CD cases and 25 age-, BMI- and gender-matched healthy controls (HC) were recruited to a resting-state-functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (rs-fMRI) study. Active disease was defined as C-reactive protein>5 mg/dL, faecal calprotectin>250 μg/g, or through ileocolonoscopy or MRE. rs-fMRI data were analysed using independent component analysis (ICA) and dual regression. Differences in RSNs between HCs and active CD were assessed, and rs-FC was associated with disease duration and abdominal pain.

Results: Increased connectivity in the FPN (fusiform gyrus, thalamus, caudate, posterior cingulate cortex, postcentral gyrus) and visual RSN (orbital frontal cortex) were observed in CD versus HC. Decreased activity was observed in the salience network (cerebellum, postcentral gyrus), DMN (parahippocampal gyrus, cerebellum), and cerebellar network (occipital fusiform gyrus, cerebellum) in CD versus HCs. Greater abdominal pain scores were associated with lower connectivity in the precuneus (visual network) and parietal operculum (salience network), and higher connectivity in the cerebellum (frontal network). Greater disease duration was associated with greater connectivity in the middle temporal gyrus and planum temporale (visual network).

Conclusion: Alterations in rs-FC in active CD in RSNs implicated in cognition, attention, emotion, and pain may represent neural correlates of chronic systemic inflammation, abdominal pain, disease duration, and severity.

Keywords: Crohn’s disease; functional connectivity; gut inflammation; gut-brain axis; systemic inflammation.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America (336416), Medical Research Council (MRC), and Doctoral Training Programme (DTP).