Abstract
Background: There is a lack of longitudinal studies exploring the topological organization of functional brain networks at the early stages of multiple sclerosis (MS). Objective: This study aims to assess potential brain functional reorganization at rest in patients with CIS (PwCIS) after 1 year of evolution and to characterize the dynamics of functional brain networks at the early stage of the disease. Methods: We prospectively included 41 PwCIS and 19 matched healthy controls (HCs). They were scanned at baseline and after 1 year. Using graph theory, topological metrics were calculated for each region. Hub disruption index was computed for each metric. Results: Hub disruption indexes of degree and betweenness centrality were negative at baseline in patients (p < 0.05), suggesting brain reorganization. After 1 year, hub disruption indexes for degree and betweenness centrality were still negative (p < 0.00001), but such reorganization appeared more pronounced than at baseline. Different brain regions were driving these alterations. No global efficiency differences were observed between PwCIS and HCs either at baseline or at 1 year. Conclusion: Dynamic changes in functional brain networks appear at the early stages of MS and are associated with the maintenance of normal global efficiency in the brain, suggesting a compensatory effect.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 188-200 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Multiple Sclerosis Journal |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 1 2020 |
Funding
The authors thank the neurologists of the AQUISEP network for their involvement in recruiting patients. The authors thank Dr JC Ouallet, Dr A Moroso, and Dr P Louiset for referring patients to the study. This work has been performed with the help of the French Observatoire of Multiple Sclerosis (OFSEP), which is supported by a grant provided by the French State and handled by the “AgenceNationale de la Recherche,” within the framework of the “Investments for the Future” program, under the reference no. ANR-10-COHO-002. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was supported by the Translational Research and Advanced Imaging Laboratory (TRAIL), laboratory of excellence (ANR-10-LABX-57). The SCI-COG study was also supported by a grant from Teva and ARSEP (Fondation ARSEP pour la recherche sur la sclérose en plaques).
Keywords
- Multiple sclerosis
- clinically isolated syndrome
- functional MRI
- graph theory
- longitudinal
- networks
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Clinical Neurology
- Neurology