Regional Homogeneity In Smoker With Mild Cognitive Impairment

Background: Alzheimer disease(AD)is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases,which is characterized by progressive cognitive impairment and behavioral abnormalities.Mild cognitive impairment(MCI)is a kind of patients who have suffered early pathophysiological changes in AD while whose symptoms have not reached the criteria for dementia.Most patients with MCI don’t progress to AD.There are many modifiable risk factors for AD.Smoking is generally considered to be an important risk factor for AD and it will affect brain function.However,there are few studies on the effect of smoking on brain function in patients with MCI.Methods: A total of 64 healthy controls and 116 MCI patients were included in the present study.MCI patients were further divided into 98 non-smoking MCI patients and18 smoking MCI patients based on their previous smoking history.Based on structural MRI and resting-state functional MRI,we assessed voxel-wise regional homogeneity(Re Ho)and the relationship between imaging features and neuropsychological scales.Results: The left Supra Marginal gyrus(SMG)and left Algular gyrus(AG),the Re Ho value of the MCI non-smokers were significantly lower than that of the MCI smoker and healthy controls(p <0.01).The value of the MCI smoker was even higher than that of the healthy controls(p <0.05).The Re Ho value in left Algular gyrus was positively correlated with memory,visuo-spatial function(p <0.01).Conclusion: Smoking is a modifiable risk factor for MCI and AD.Smoking can affect the Re Ho in the left SMG and left AG.We should pay more attention to change in memory,visuo-spatial function of smokers for early detection of cognitive dysfunction.