Intrinsic brain abnormalities in chronic rhinosinusitis associated with mood and cognitive function

Simin Lin; Miaomiao Nie; Bingshan Wang; Shaoyin Duan; Qianwen Huang; Naiming Wu; Zhishang Chen; Hengyu Zhao; Yi Han

doi:10.3389/fnins.2023.1131114

Intrinsic brain abnormalities in chronic rhinosinusitis associated with mood and cognitive function

Front Neurosci. 2023 Mar 10:17:1131114. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1131114. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Simin Lin¹, Miaomiao Nie², Bingshan Wang², Shaoyin Duan², Qianwen Huang², Naiming Wu¹, Zhishang Chen¹, Hengyu Zhao¹, Yi Han³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, Xiamen Cardiovascular Hospital of Xiamen University, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
² Department of Radiology, Zhongshan Hospital of Xiamen University, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
³ Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Eye Institute of Xiamen University, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.

Abstract

Background: Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) poses a risk for developing emotional and cognitive disorders. However, the neural evidence for this association is largely unclear. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) analysis can demonstrate abnormal brain activity and functional connectivity and contribute to explaining the potential pathophysiology of CRS-related mood and cognitive alterations.

Methods: Chronic rhinosinusitis patients (CRS, n = 26) and gender- and age-matched healthy control subjects (HCs, n = 38) underwent resting-state functional MRI scanning. The amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) was calculated to observe the intrinsic brain activity. The brain region with altered ALFF was further selected as the seed for functional connectivity (FC) analysis. Correlation analysis was performed between the ALFF/FC and clinical parameters in CRS patients.

Results: Compared with HCs, CRS patients exhibited significantly increased ALFF in the left orbital superior frontal cortex and reduced connectivity in the right precuneus using the orbital superior frontal cortex as the seed region. The magnitude of the orbital superior frontal cortex increased with inflammation severity. In addition, ALFF values in the orbital superior frontal cortex were positively correlated with the hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) scores. The ROC curves of altered brain regions indicated great accuracy in distinguishing between CRS patients and HCs.

Conclusion: In this study, patients with CRS showed increased neural activity in the orbital superior frontal cortex, a critical region in emotional regulation, and this region also indicated hypoconnectivity to the precuneus with a central role in modulating cognition. This study provided preliminary insights into the potential neural mechanism related to mood and cognitive dysfunctions in CRS patients.

Keywords: amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation; anxiety; chronic rhinosinusitis; depression; functional connectivity; rs-fMRI.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province, China (grant no. 2015J01535).