Regional homogeneity abnormalities of resting state brain activities in children with growth hormone deficiency

Fanyu Zhang,Zhongxiang Ding,Zhongxiang Ding,Ju-Rong Ding,Tengfei Wang,Ju-Rong Ding,Mei Wang,Mei Wang,Bo Hua

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-79475-9

Abstract

Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) is a common developmental disorder in children characterized by low levels of growth hormone secretion, short stature, and multiple cognitive and behavioral problems, including hyperactivity, anxiety, and depression. However, the pathophysiology of this disorder remains unclear. In order to investigate abnormalities of brain functioning in children with GHD, we preformed functional magnetic resonance imaging and regional homogeneity (ReHo) analysis in 26 children with GHD and 15 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs) in a resting state. Compared with HCs, children with GHD exhibited increased ReHo in the left putamen and decreased ReHo in the right precentral gyrus, reflecting a dysfunction of inhibitory control. Decreased ReHo was also identified in the orbital parts of the bilateral superior frontal gyrus and the medial part of the left superior frontal gyrus, a finding that correlated with the inappropriate anxiety and depression that are observed in this patient population. Our results provide imaging evidence of potential pathophysiologic mechanisms for the cognitive and behavioral abnormalities of children with GHD.

Highlights

Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) is a common developmental disorder in children characterized by low levels of growth hormone secretion, short stature, and multiple cognitive and behavioral problems, including hyperactivity, anxiety, and depression
In order to intuitively display regional homogeneity (ReHo) results for the GHD and healthy controls (HCs) groups, a ReHo map was calculated within each group and graphically displayed in Figs. 1 and 2, respectively
It was found that the ReHo values of the bilateral frontal gyrus, supplementary motor area (SMA), cingulate gyrus, cuneus (CUN), occipital gyrus, fusiform gyrus (FFG), parietal gyrus, angular gyrus (ANG), precuneus (PCUN), putamen (PUT) and temporal gyrus were significantly higher than those of other brain regions

Summary

Introduction

Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) is a common developmental disorder in children characterized by low levels of growth hormone secretion, short stature, and multiple cognitive and behavioral problems, including hyperactivity, anxiety, and depression. In order to investigate abnormalities of brain functioning in children with GHD, we preformed functional magnetic resonance imaging and regional homogeneity (ReHo) analysis in 26 children with GHD and 15 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs) in a resting state. We performed rs-fMRI and ReHo analysis on children with GHD and HCs. Based on the existing resting-state neuroimaging studies and clinical behavioral studies of children with GHD, we hypothesized that ReHo analysis would identify differences of activity homogeneity in certain clusters between participates with GHD and HCs, especially in brain regions related to social, thought, and behavior problems[5,16].

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