Disruption of brain regional homogeneity and functional connectivity in male NAFLD: evidence from a pilot resting-state fMRI study

BACKGROUND: The neurophysiological mechanisms underlying cognitive deficits in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) remain unknown. Cognitive changes may be caused by brain alterations in neural activity and functional connectivity (FC). AIM: This study aims to investigate the alterations between spontaneous brain neural activity and FC in male NAFLD patients and the relationship of neural activity with cognitive performance. METHODS: In this prospective study, 33 male pre-cirrhosis NAFLD subjects and 20 male controls matched for age, education level, and body mass index. All participants underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans and neuropsychological examinations. Regional homogeneity (ReHo) analysis was used to investigate the brain function in NAFLD, and regions with significantly altered ReHo were selected as seeds for subsequent FC analysis. Partial correlation analysis was used to assess the relationships between altered ReHo measures and cognitive performance indicators. RESULTS: Compared with the controls, the NAFLD patients showed increased ReHo in the opercular part of the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFGoperc) and decreased ReHo in the right middle frontal gyrus (MFG) and left superior parietal gyrus (SPG). The subsequent FC analysis showed increased FC between these regions (right IFGoperc, right MFG, and left SPG) and nodes of the default mode network (DMN) (such as left supraMarginal, left median cingulate and paracingulate gyri, left precuneus, orbital part of left medial frontal gyrus, and bilateral posterior cingulate gyrus). In addition, significant positive correlations were observed between NAFLD patients’ clock drawing test scores and altered ReHo in prefrontal cortices (right IFGoperc and right MFG). CONCLUSION: Before developing cirrhosis, NAFLD patients showed altered neural activity in several brain regions and altered FC between the salience network and DMN. These alterations could potentially be a compensatory mechanism to maintain cognitive function in pre-cirrhosis NAFLD patients. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12888-023-05071-6.