TY - JOUR
T1 - Functional connectivity in multiple sclerosis modelled as connectome stability: A 5-year follow-up study
AU - Høgestøl, Einar August
AU - Ghezzo, Samuele
AU - Nygaard, Gro Owren
AU - Espeseth, Thomas
AU - Sowa, Piotr
AU - Beyer, Mona K.
AU - Harbo, Hanne Flinstad
AU - Westlye, Lars T.
AU - Hulst, Hanneke E.
AU - Alnæs, Dag
N1 - Funding Information: The author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: S.G., G.O.N., T.E., L.T.W. and D.A. report no disclosures. E.A.H. has received honoraria for lecturing from Biogen, Merck and Sanofi-Genzyme, and unrestricted research support from Merck and Sanofi-Genzyme. P.S. has received honoraria for lecturing and travel support from Merck. M.K.B. has received honoraria for lecturing from Novartis and Biogen Idec. H.F.H. has received travel support, honoraria for advice or lecturing from Biogen Idec, Sanofi-Genzyme, Merck, Novartis, Roche and Teva, and an unrestricted research grant from Novartis. H.E.H. received honoraria for speaking at scientific meetings, serving at scientific advisory boards and consulting activities from Biogen, Celgene, Genzyme, Merck and Roche. She has received research support from the Dutch MS Research Foundation and serves on the editorial board of Multiple Sclerosis Journal (MSJ). Funding Information: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by grants from the South Eastern Health Authorities of Norway (grant nos 2011059/ES563338/Biotek 2021, 2019107 and 2020086), the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (ERC StG, grant no. 802998) and by the European Union under the Horizon 2020 Programme (grant no. 733161). Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s), 2021. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Background: Brain functional connectivity (FC) in multiple sclerosis (MS) is abnormal compared to healthy controls (HCs). More longitudinal studies in MS are needed to evaluate whether FC stability is clinically relevant. Objective: To compare functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)-based FC between MS and HC, and to determine the relationship between longitudinal FC changes and structural brain damage, cognitive performance and physical disability. Methods: T1-weighted MPRAGE and resting-state fMRI (1.5T) were acquired from 70 relapsing-remitting MS patients and 94 matched HC at baseline (mean months since diagnosis 14.0 ± 11) and from 60 MS patients after 5 years. Independent component analysis and network modelling were used to measure longitudinal FC stability and cross-sectional comparisons with HC. Linear mixed models, adjusted for age and sex, were used to calculate correlations. Results: At baseline, patients with MS showed FC abnormalities both within networks and in single connections compared to HC. Longitudinal analyses revealed functional stability and no significant relationships with clinical disability, cognitive performance, lesion or brain volume. Conclusion: FC abnormalities occur already at the first decade of MS, yet we found no relevant clinical correlations for these network deviations. Future large-scale longitudinal fMRI studies across a range of MS subtypes and outcomes are required.
AB - Background: Brain functional connectivity (FC) in multiple sclerosis (MS) is abnormal compared to healthy controls (HCs). More longitudinal studies in MS are needed to evaluate whether FC stability is clinically relevant. Objective: To compare functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)-based FC between MS and HC, and to determine the relationship between longitudinal FC changes and structural brain damage, cognitive performance and physical disability. Methods: T1-weighted MPRAGE and resting-state fMRI (1.5T) were acquired from 70 relapsing-remitting MS patients and 94 matched HC at baseline (mean months since diagnosis 14.0 ± 11) and from 60 MS patients after 5 years. Independent component analysis and network modelling were used to measure longitudinal FC stability and cross-sectional comparisons with HC. Linear mixed models, adjusted for age and sex, were used to calculate correlations. Results: At baseline, patients with MS showed FC abnormalities both within networks and in single connections compared to HC. Longitudinal analyses revealed functional stability and no significant relationships with clinical disability, cognitive performance, lesion or brain volume. Conclusion: FC abnormalities occur already at the first decade of MS, yet we found no relevant clinical correlations for these network deviations. Future large-scale longitudinal fMRI studies across a range of MS subtypes and outcomes are required.
KW - Multiple sclerosis
KW - cohort studies
KW - connectome
KW - functional neuroimaging
KW - longitudinal studies
KW - neuroimaging
KW - neuropsychological tests
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85110112342&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1177/13524585211030212
DO - https://doi.org/10.1177/13524585211030212
M3 - Article
C2 - 34259578
SN - 1352-4585
JO - MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS JOURNAL
JF - MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS JOURNAL
ER -