Altered Intrinsic Regional Spontaneous Brain Activity in Patients With Severe Obesity and Meibomian Gland Dysfunction: A Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Abstract

PurposeTo evaluate potential regional homogeneity (ReHo) cerebrum function lesions in people with severe obesity and meibomian gland dysfunction (SM) and probe the connection between aberrant cerebrum activity and clinical manifestations.Patients and MethodsAn aggregation of 12 patients with SM, and 12 healthy controls (HCs) closely matched in age and gender were enrolled. We applied corneal confocal microscopy and fundus angiography to compare imaging distinctions between the two groups. SMs were required to carefully fill out the Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS) forms, and a correlation analysis was performed. ReHo was also utilized to appraise partial differences in spontaneous cerebrum function. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were created to partition ReHo values between patients with SM and the HCs.ResultsReHo values for the left cerebellum (LC), right fusiform gyrus (RFG), left inferior temporal gyrus (LITG), left rectus gyrus (LRG), right thalamus (RT), right caudate (RC), left insula (LI), and left thalamus (LT) of subjects with SM were notably higher than those of the HCs (P < 0.05). ReHo values of the right middle frontal gyrus (RMFG) in subjects with SM were decreased notably compared to the HCs (P < 0.05). ReHo values for the RMFG showed a negative correlation with the anxiety scores (ASs; r = −0.961, P < 0.001) and ReHo values for the RFG showed a positive correlation with the depression scores (DSs; r = 0.676, P = 0.016). The areas under the ROC curve were 1.000 (P < 0.001) for the RMFG, LC, LITG, LRG, RC, LI, and LT and 0.993 (P < 0.001) for the RFG and RT. The results from the ROC curve analysis indicated that changes in the ReHo values of some brain regions may help diagnose SM.ConclusionOur research emphasized that patients with SM had lesions in synchronized neural activity in many encephalic areas. Our discoveries may provide beneficial information for exploring the neuromechanics of SM.

Intermittent energy restriction changes the regional homogeneity of the obese human brain

“…After the IER intervention, we also found decreased ReHo in the right cerebellum (VIII), which is related to higher-order functions, including reward-based learning, attention, appetite control, emotion, and executive functions ( Zhu and Wang, 2008 ; Lugo-Candelas et al, 2020 ). Obesity-related cerebellar structural and functional disturbances have been reported in many studies ( Kurth et al, 2013 ; Contreras-Rodríguez et al, 2017 ; Prehn et al, 2017 ; Gracia-Marco et al, 2020 ; Lugo-Candelas et al, 2020 ; Liu et al, 2022 ; Yang et al, 2023 ). Their results revealed significant negative correlations between BMI, WC, and intra-abdominal adiposity and GM volume in the cerebellum ( Kurth et al, 2013 ; Lugo-Candelas et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Furthermore, the decreased FC between the hypothalamus (regulating appetite and energy homeostasis) and the cerebellum, which may predict a high percentage of 3-month weight loss, indicates that the cerebellum may play a role in the regulation of eating behaviors ( Contreras-Rodríguez et al, 2017 ; Lugo-Candelas et al, 2020 ). In addition, the prefrontal cortex–cerebellar circuit participates in the regulation of cognitive–emotional processes ( Liu et al, 2022 ). Markedly increased ReHo has also been observed in the left cerebellum of subjects with severe obesity and meibomian gland dysfunction ( Liu et al, 2022 ).…”

“…In addition, the prefrontal cortex–cerebellar circuit participates in the regulation of cognitive–emotional processes ( Liu et al, 2022 ). Markedly increased ReHo has also been observed in the left cerebellum of subjects with severe obesity and meibomian gland dysfunction ( Liu et al, 2022 ). In summary, the IER intervention may normalize the spontaneous neural activity of the cerebellum and promote interaction with the hypothalamus and prefrontal cortex to enhance the ability to control appetite and weight loss.…”

“…In addition, the prefrontal cortex-cerebellar circuit participates in the regulation of cognitive-emotional processes (Liu et al, 2022). Markedly increased ReHo has also been observed in the left cerebellum of subjects with severe obesity and meibomian gland dysfunction (Liu et al, 2022).…”