Brain Resting State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging In Young Males With Paranoid Personality Disorder

Objective:To observe the amplitude of low frequence fluctuation(ALFF)and Regional homogeneity(ReHo)changes of untreated young male paranoid personality disorder patients by using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging(rs-fMRI)technique,and the relationships between the abnormal activity brain area and paranoia(Pa)scores,and to explore the changes of spontaneous brain activity in resting state and possible neuropathophysiological mechanism of paranoid personality disorder(PPD).Materials and methods: 2300 male students were selected from two universities in DaLian,all of these students accepted the test of Minnesota Multiphasic personality Inventory(MMPI,556),then 2 psychiatric experts diagnosed students which had Pa scores ? 60 according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,Fifth Edition(DSM-V)diagnostic criteria.Finally,eighteen people with PPD were diagnosed as PPD group,and 21 healthy controls(HC group)were matched.The rs-fMRI technique was used to study and quantitatively analyze the changes of ALFF and ReHo values.The study protocols were approved by the hospital ethics committee and all subjects were voluntarily participated and signed informed consents.Subjects were all right-handed,subjects who had possible mental illness disorders diagnosed by DSM-V,family history of positive psychosis,or other serious personality abnormalities,severe physical illness or neurological disease that may exist according to the MMPI scale score,psychoactive substance abusers,history of severe infections or surgery and had a loss of consciousness more than 2 minutes,and were contraindicated by magnetic resonance imaging were excluded.All subjects underwent 3.0T MRI magnetic resonance scans within half a year after the MMPI scale measurement.The sequence included T2-FLAIR,3D-T1,and rsfMRI scans.The whole brain ALFF values and ReHo values of PPD group and HC group were calculated by Matlab 2013 b version software platform resting state magnetic resonance brain function processing software.The differences of ALFF values and ReHo values between PPD group and HC group were compared by SPSS 17.0 statistical software and Matlab 2013 b software platform.Statistical methods were performed using a two-sample t-test.Cluster-level FWE multiple comparisons were adjusted for voxel level p<0.001,and cluster level p<0.05 for statistically significant.The differential brain regions obtained by compared the ALFF values and ReHo values between the PPD group and the HC group were defined as the brain region of interest areas,and the correlations between the changes of ALFF and ReHo values and the Pa scores of the region of interest areas were analyzed,p<0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.Results: 1.Comparison of general data and Pa scores between the two groups: There were no significant differences in gender,age and years of education between PPD group and HC group(p>0.05),but the differences of Pa scores between the two groups were statistically significant(p<0.05).2.Comparison of ALFF and ReHo values between the two groups:(1)Comparison of ALFF values between PPD group and HC group: Compared with HC group,PPD group showed the decreased ALFF values in the left posterior central gyrus,while left supplementary motor area(SMA)ALFF values increased(voxel level p<0.001,cluster level p<0.05,cluster size?30);(2)Comparison of ReHo values between PPD group and HC group: Compared with HC group,the ReHo values of left lingual gyrus were increased in PPD group,but the ReHo values showed no decreased areas(voxel level p<0.001,cluster level p<0.05,cluster size?68).3.Correlation analysis between the region of interested area and the Pa scores in PPD group: There was no significant correlation between the changes of ALFF values and ReHo values in the left posterior central gyrus,the left supplementary motor area and the left lingual gyrus and the Pa scores by using Spearman correlation analysis,and p values were >0.05.Conclusions: In this study,the following conclusions were obtained by comparing rs-fMRI with 18 cases of PPD and 21 cases of HC:1.Male PPD subjects had abnormal neuronal activity in the left cerebral hemisphere in the resting state,mainly the ALFF values in the left posterior central gyrus is decreased,the ALFF values of left supplementary motor area is increased,and the ReHo values of left lingual gyrus is increased.2.Abnormal brain neuron activity with male PPD may reflect its clinical tendency and neuropathological mechanism.The decrease of ALFF values in the left posterior central gyrus may be related to the empathy,emotional and emotional regulation disorder,and the increase of ALFF values in the left supplementary motor area may reflect the corresponding compensatory mechanism.The increase in ReHo values on the left lingual gyrus is related to the misunderstanding of other people's facial expressions and speech.