Effect of acupuncture on brain voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity in patients with primary dysmenorrhea
Objective To investigate the changes in voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity(VMHC)in bilateral cerebral hemispheres of patients with primary dysmenorrhea(PDM),as well as the changes in VMHC before and after acupuncture treatment,and the changes of VMHC before and after acupuncture treatment,using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging,and to analyze the correlation between VMHC value and clinical scale scores before and after acupuncture treatment in PDM group.Methods Fifty-eight patients with PDM in Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine from September 2021 to September 2022 were prospectively included as the PDM group,and 50 healthy subjects from the same period were selected as the healthy control group.Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan was performed on the 1st to 3rd day of menstruation.The visual analogue scale(VAS),COX dysmenorrhea symptom scale(CMSS),self-rating anxiety scale(SAS)and self-rating depression scale(SDS)were completed.The PDM group received continuous acupuncture therapy at Sanyinjiao and Guanyuan point one week before the next menstrual period.There were 30 cases in PDM group participating in complete acupuncture.Independent samples t-test and paired t-test were performed using VMHC method and DPABI software based on Matlab platform to observe the brain regions with differences in VMHC values between the two groups of subjects and PDM group before and after acupuncture treatment.Spearman correlation analysis was finally applied.The correlation between VMHC value and clinical scale score before and after acupuncture treatment in PDM group was observed.Results There were substantial variances in VAS,CMSS,SAS and SDS scores between PDM group and healthy control group(P<0.001).Substantial variations were also observed in VAS,CMSS,SAS,and SDS scores before and after acupuncture therapy in the PDM group(P<0.01).Compared to the healthy control group,the brain regions with increased VMHC value in PDM group mainly included bilateral posterior cingulate cortex,fusoid gyrus,superior temporal gyrus/middle temporal gyrus and putamen,while bilateral prefrontal cortex had decreased VMHC value(voxel level P<0.001,group level P<0.05).The VMHC value in the medial cingulate brain and suboccipital gyrus of the PDM group reduced following acupuncture.The decrease in VMHC value in the bilateral suboccipital gyrus following acupuncture in the PDM group was favorably associated with the change of CMSS total seizure time scale score(r=0.398,P<0.05).Conclusion Based on resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging and VMHC method,there are likely homotopy functional connectivity problems in the symmetrical brain regions between the bilateral cerebral hemispheres in PDM patients.Acupuncture had a beneficial clinical effect on PDM patients,decreasing the VMHC levels of both the medial cingulate cortex and the suboccipital gyrus.These abnormal brain areas are primarily situated in pain transmission pathways and may play a role in acupuncture's central analgesic mechanism in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea.
primary dysmenorrhearesting-state functional magnetic resonance imagingvoxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity
万方数据
维普
