Disrupted Gray Matter Structural Networks between Active and Inactive Phases of Thyroid-Associated Ophthalmopathy

Abstract

Abstract Patients with thyroid-associated opthalmopathy (TAO) reportedly exhibit widespread morphological abnormalities in attention and default mode network (DMN) areas, but alterations in coordinated patterns of brain structural networks underlying TAO are still poorly understood. This study aims to investigate the disruptions in gray matter (GM) structural networks between TAO patients in active and inactive phases. We constructed subject-wise structural networks based on GM volumetric features for 37 active and 35 inactive TAO patients, and 23 healthy controls. Graph theory analysis was conducted to assess the alterations of global and regional network topological properties for TAO patients and their correlation with clinical characteristics. Compared with inactive TAO patients and controls, active TAO patients showed significantly decreased global/local efficiency, and significant altered nodal betweenness centrality (BC) in the visual, attention, DMN and sensorimotor areas. Intriguingly, the BC of left lingual gyrus was significantly negatively correlated with bilateral intraocular pressure, and medial superior/opercular inferior frontal gyrus was significantly correlated with anxiety and depression parameters. Our results suggest that TAO patients at different clinical stages have segregated disruptions in GM network topology, which may due to the visual function and psychological changes. These findings may provide new insights into the neurobiological mechanisms of TAO.