Based On Rest-fMRI And DTI Techniques To Explore The Mechanism Of"Sancai Yizhi Moxibustion"in The Treatment Of Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment

ObjectiveBased on rest-f MRI and diffusion tensor imaging(DTI)techniques,the changes of brain functional activity and white matter microstructure in patients with mild cognitive impairment(MCI)were observed.The main pathological changes of brain tissue in MCI patients and the mechanism of "Sancai Yizhi Moxibustion" were discussed from the perspective of imaging.Objects and methodsIn this study,20 MCI patients and 15 healthy subjects who met the diagnostic criteria were screened in multiple communities in Chengdu.MOCA and MMSE were used to assess the cognitive function,and rest-f MRI and DTI were performed.After excluding uncooperative subjects and subjects with unqualified MRI image quality,17 patients with MCI were included as case group,including 7 males and 10 females;13 healthy subjects as health control(HC)group,including 5 males and 8 females.Low frequency oscillation amplitude(ALFF)was used to analyze the difference of brain function activity between the case group and the healthy control group,and TBSS was used to analyze the difference of fractional anisotropy(FA)and mean diffusivity(MD)of white matter between the case group and the healthy control group.After that,MCI patients were treated with Moxibustion of Baihui,Shenque and Yongquan for 20 minutes each time,once every other day,for 8 weeks.After 8 weeks of treatment,7 MCI patients were excluded from the treatment and could not tolerate MRI examination,and the second MMSE,MOCA score and MRI scan were performed.MMSE and MOCA were compared before and after treatment in case group Score and ALFF,FA,MD changes.Results1.Compared with HC group,MMSE and MOCA scores of MCI group were significantly lower.2.Compared with HC group,ALFF values of right dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus,right inferior parietal lobule,marginal superior gyrus and angular gyrus,left anterior cuneiform lobe and posterior cingulate gyrus in MCI group were significantly lower;in addition,ALFF values of right superior occipital gyrus,middle occipital gyrus and right middle temporal gyrus,inferior temporal gyrus in MCI group were significantly higher.3.Compared with HC group,in MCI group,FA value of knee and anterior clamp of corpus callosum,bilateral inferior frontal occipital tract,bilateral superior longitudinal tract,bilateral hook tract,bilateral thalamic anterior radiation,left corticospinal tract and left cingulate tract decreased significantly,while MD value increased significantly;MD value of posterior clamp of corpus callosum,bilateral inferior longitudinal tract and right corticospinal tract increased significantly.4.After 8 weeks of moxibustion,the ALFF values of left inferior frontal gyrus,left inferior temporal gyrus,left inferior parietal lobule,left posterior central gyrus and right anterior cuneiform cortex in MCI patients were significantly higher than those before treatment.5.There was no statistical difference in FA and MD values of MCI patients before and after treatment.Conclusions1.In MCI patients,the spontaneous functional activities of right dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus,right inferior parietal lobule,superior marginal gyrus and angular gyrus,left anterior cuneiform lobe and posterior cingulate gyrus were decreased.In addition,it was also found that the spontaneous functional activities of the right inferior temporal gyrus,middle temporal gyrus,middle occipital gyrus and superior occipital gyrus in MCI patients were enhanced,which may be the compensation mechanism of MCI in the early stage to make up for the related cognitive decline caused by brain injury.2.MCI patients have a wide range of brain white matter microstructure damage.3." Sancai Yizhi Moxibustion " can effectively improve the cognitive function of MCI patients.4."Sancai Yizhi Moxibustion " can significantly enhance the spontaneous function of neurons in multiple brain regions of MCI patients.5." Sancai Yizhi Moxibustion " has no obvious improvement on the damage of the brain white matter microstructure in MCI patients.6." Sancai Yizhi Moxibustion" can improve the cognitive function of MCI patients,which may be related to the spontaneous activity of neurons in the related brain areas.