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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Aging Neurosci.
Sec. Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias
Volume 16 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2024.1503806
This article is part of the Research Topic Frontier Research on Artificial Intelligence and Radiomics in Neurodegenerative Diseases View all articles

Transcriptional patterns of brain structural abnormalities in CSVD-related cognitive impairment

Provisionally accepted
Haixia Mao Haixia Mao Min Xu Min Xu Hui Wang Hui Wang Liu Yuankun Liu Yuankun Wang Feng Wang Feng Qianqian Gao Qianqian Gao Songyun Zhao Songyun Zhao Lin Ma Lin Ma Xiaoyun Hu Xiaoyun Hu Xiaoxuan Zhang Xiaoxuan Zhang Guangjun Xi Guangjun Xi Xiangming Fang Xiangming Fang Yachen Shi Yachen Shi *
  • Wuxi People's Hospital, Wuxi, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Brain structural abnormalities have been associated with cognitive impairment in individuals with small cerebral vascular disease (CSVD). However, the molecular and cellular factors making the different brain structural regions more vulnerable to CSVD-related cognitive impairment remain largely unknown.Voxel-based morphology (VBM) was performed on the structural magnetic resonance imaging data of 46 CSVD-related cognitive impairment and 73 healthy controls to analyze and compare the gray matter volume (GMV) between the 2 groups.Transcriptome-neuroimaging spatial correlation analysis was carried out in combination with the Allen Human Brain Atlas to explore gene expression profiles associated with changes in cortical morphology in CSVD-related cognitive impairment.Results: VBM analysis demonstrated extensive decreased GMV in CSVD-related cognitive impairment in the bilateral temporal lobe and thalamus, especially the hippocampus, thalamus, parahippocampus, and fusiform, and the left temporal lobe showed a more severe atrophy than the right temporal lobe. These brain structural alterations were closely related to memory and executive function deficits in CSVD-related cognitive impairment. Furthermore, a total of 1580 genes were revealed to be significantly associated with regional change in GMV. The negatively and positively GMV-linked gene expression profiles were mainly enriched in RNA polymerase II, catalytic activity acting on a nucleic acid, aminoacyltransferase activity, axonogenesis, Golgi membrane, and cell junction organization.Our findings suggest that brain morphological abnormalities in CSVD-related cognitive impairment are linked to molecular changes involving complex polygenic mechanisms, highlighting the interplay between genetic influences and structural alterations relevant to CSVD-related cognitive impairment.

    Keywords: small cerebral vascular disease, cognitive impairment, subcortical vascular cognitive impairment, gray matter volume, transcription, Allen Human Brain Atla

    Received: 29 Sep 2024; Accepted: 19 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Mao, Xu, Wang, Yuankun, Feng, Gao, Zhao, Ma, Hu, Zhang, Xi, Fang and Shi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Yachen Shi, Wuxi People's Hospital, Wuxi, China

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