1College of Physical Science and Technology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
2Beijing Engineering Research Center of Radiographic Techniques and Equipment, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
3School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
4CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
5College of Rehabilitation Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou 350122, China
6School of Public Health and Family Medicine, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100068, China

Abstract 

Stroke at the acute stage is a major cause of disability in adults, and is associated with dysfunction of brain networks. However, the mechanisms underlying changes in brain connectivity in stroke are far from fully elucidated. In the present study, we investigated brain metabolism and metabolic connectivity in a rat ischemic stroke model of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) at the acute stage using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography. Voxel-wise analysis showed decreased metabolism mainly in the ipsilesional hemisphere, and increased metabolism mainly in the contralesional cerebellum. We used further metabolic connectivity analysis to explore the brain metabolic network in MCAO. Compared to sham controls, rats with MCAO showed most significantly reduced nodal and local efficiency in the ipsilesional striatum. In addition, the MCAO group showed decreased metabolic central connection of the ipsilesional striatum with the ipsilesional cerebellum, ipsilesional hippocampus, and bilateral hypothalamus. Taken together, the present study demonstrated abnormal metabolic connectivity in rats at the acute stage of ischemic stroke, which might provide insight into clinical research.

Keywords

Ischemic stroke,FDG,PET,Metabolic connectivity,Acute

[SpringerLink]