Altered spontaneous brain activity patterns in patients with diabetic retinopathy using amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation

Figure 1 Example of diabetic retinopathy shown on fundus photography and fluorescein angiography.

Figure 2 Significant differences in spontaneous brain activity between the diabetic retinopathy group and healthy controls. The different brain regions were observed in the left cerebellum posterior lobe, right cerebellum posterior lobe, right anterior cingulate and bilateral calcarine. The red areas denote higher amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) brain regions, and the blue areas denote lower ALFF brain regions [P < 0.001 for multiple comparisons using Gaussian random field theory (z.2.3, P < 0.01, cluster > 30 voxels, Alphasim corrected)].

Figure 3 Means of altered spontaneous brain activity between the diabetic retinopathy group and healthy controls. DR: Diabetic retinopathy; HCs: Healthy controls; ALFF: Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation.

Figure 4 Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis of the mean amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation values for altered brain regions. A: The area under the ROC curve were 0.080, [P < 0.001; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.000 to 0.177] for RAC, LCPL 0.938 (P < 0.001; 95%CI: 0.849 to 1.000), RCPL 0.947 (P < 0.001; 95%CI: 0.871 to 1.000) [diabetic retinopathies (DRs) > healthy controls (HCs)]; B: The area under the ROC curve were 0.893 (P < 0.001; 95%CI: 0.782 to 1.000) for BC (DRs < HCs). ROC: Receiver operating characteristic; AUC: Area under the curve; LCPL: Left cerebellum posterior lobe; RCPL: Right cerebellum posterior lobe; RAC: Right anterior cingulate.

Figure 5 Correlations between the best-corrected visual acuity values and signal values in the bilateral calcarine. The best-corrected visual acuity value of the eyes of the diabetic retinopathy group showed a positive correlation with the signal value of the bilateral calcarine (r = 0.938, P = 0.001). BCVA: Best-corrected visual acuity.

Figure 6 The amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation results of brain activity in the diabetic retinopathy group. Compared with the healthy controls, the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) of the following regions in diabetic retinopathies were increased to various extents: 1-left cerebellum posterior lobe (t = 5.4338), 2-right cerebellum posterior lobe (t = 4.6875) and 3-right anterior cingulate (t = -4.4176), and decreased ALFF values in the 4-bilateral calcarine (t = -4.3494). The sizes of the spots denote the degree of quantitative changes. ALFF: Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation.

Figure 7 Relationship between magnetic resonance imaging images and clinical manifestations in diabetic retinopathy.