Abstract

We aimed to investigate changes in olfactory bulb volume and brain network in the white matter (WM) in patients with persistent olfactory disfunction (OD) following COVID-19. A cross-sectional study evaluated 38 participants with OD after mild COVID-19 and 24 controls, including Sniffin' Sticks identification test (SS-16), MoCA, and brain magnetic resonance imaging. Network-Based Statistics (NBS) and graph theoretical analysis were used to explore the WM. The COVID-19 group had reduced olfactory bulb volume compared to controls. In NBS, COVID-19 patients showed increased structural connectivity in a subnetwork comprising parietal brain regions. Regarding global network topological properties, patients exhibited lower global and local efficiency and higher assortativity than controls. Concerning local network topological properties, patients had reduced local efficiency (left lateral orbital gyrus and pallidum), increased clustering (left lateral orbital gyrus), increased nodal strength (right anterior orbital gyrus), and reduced nodal strength (left amygdala). SS-16 test score was negatively correlated with clustering of whole-brain WM in the COVID-19 group. Thus, patients with OD after COVID-19 had relevant WM network dysfunction with increased connectivity in the parietal sensory cortex. Reduced integration and increased segregation are observed within olfactory-related brain areas might be due to compensatory plasticity mechanisms devoted to recovering olfactory function.

Details

Title
Altered structural connectivity in olfactory disfunction after mild COVID-19 using probabilistic tractography
Author
Bispo, Diógenes Diego de Carvalho 1 ; Brandão, Pedro Renato de Paula 2 ; Pereira, Danilo Assis 3 ; Maluf, Fernando Bisinoto 4 ; Dias, Bruna Arrais 4 ; Paranhos, Hugo Rafael 4 ; von Glehn, Felipe 5 ; de Oliveira, Augusto César Penalva 6 ; Soares, Alexandre Anderson de Sousa Munhoz 7 ; Descoteaux, Maxime 8 ; Regattieri, Neysa Aparecida Tinoco 7 

 Brasilia University Hospital, University of Brasilia, Diagnostic Imaging Unit, Brasilia, Brazil (GRID:grid.7632.0) (ISNI:0000 0001 2238 5157); University of Brasilia, Faculty of Medicine, Brasilia, Brazil (GRID:grid.7632.0) (ISNI:0000 0001 2238 5157); Hospital Santa Marta, Department of Radiology, Taguatinga, Brazil (GRID:grid.7632.0) 
 University of Brasilia, Neuroscience and Behavior Lab, Brasilia, Brazil (GRID:grid.7632.0) (ISNI:0000 0001 2238 5157); Hospital Sírio-Libanês, Brasilia, Brazil (GRID:grid.413471.4) (ISNI:0000 0000 9080 8521) 
 Advanced Psychometry Laboratory, Brazilian Institute of Neuropsychology and Cognitive Sciences, Brasilia, Brazil (GRID:grid.413471.4) 
 Hospital Santa Marta, Department of Radiology, Taguatinga, Brazil (GRID:grid.413471.4) 
 University of Brasilia, Faculty of Medicine, Brasilia, Brazil (GRID:grid.7632.0) (ISNI:0000 0001 2238 5157); Hospital Sírio-Libanês, Brasilia, Brazil (GRID:grid.413471.4) (ISNI:0000 0000 9080 8521) 
 Instituto de Infectologia Emílio Ribas, Department of Neurology, São Paulo, Brazil (GRID:grid.419072.9) (ISNI:0000 0004 0576 9599) 
 University of Brasilia, Faculty of Medicine, Brasilia, Brazil (GRID:grid.7632.0) (ISNI:0000 0001 2238 5157) 
 University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke Connectivity Imaging Lab, Sherbrooke, Canada (GRID:grid.86715.3d) (ISNI:0000 0000 9064 6198); Imeka Solutions Inc, Sherbrooke, Canada (GRID:grid.86715.3d) 
Pages
12886
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2848021227
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2023. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.