Analysis Of The Topological Properties Of Brain Structural Network Based On Diffusion Tensor Imaging In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder And Global Developmental Delay

Objective: The purpose of this study was to use diffusion tensor imaging(DTI)data to analyze the alterations in the topological properties of the brain structural network in children with autism spectrum disorder(ASD)and global developmental delay(GDD)who are normal on conventional magnetic resonance imaging(MRI),and try to explore the value of DTI in the differential diagnosis of two diseases.Methods: 33 children with ASD and 20 children with GDD who visited the Child Health Clinic of Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University from May 2021 to March 2022 were selected as the experimental group,and 36 typical development(TD)children who visited the hospital and underwent brain MRI were selected as the control group.All subjects underwent DTI scan,and construct the brain structural network,then the topological properties of the brain network were analyzed based on graph theory.One-way analysis of variance was used to compare the differences in each parameter among the three groups,and pairwise comparisons were performed.And then,the receiver operating characteristic analysis followed by logistic regression performed to assess the ability of network topology properties in the differential diagnosis of ASD and GDD.Results: Both ASD and GDD children exhibited “small word”property in brain structural network.Compared with TD,the global topological properties of GDD were significantly reduced in global efficiency,local efficiency and clustering coefficient,and significantly increased in characteristic path length(P<0.05);There was no significant difference in the global topological properties between the ASD group and TD group(P>0.05).Compared with ASD,GDD has a lower global topological property of the brain structural network,which is manifested by a lower global efficiency and an increased characteristic path length(P<0.05).There were significant differences in node properties of some brain regions in brain structural network among the three groups: nodal degree of the right postcentral gyrus and the left orbital inferior frontal gyrus,superior parietal gyrus,and inferior parietal angular gyrus;node efficiency of the right medial and lateral cingulate gyrus,precuneus,and inferior temporal gyrus,and the left orbital superior frontal gyrus,middle frontal gyrus,inferior frontal gyrus,superior occipital gyrus,middle occipital gyrus,postcentral gyrus,superior parietal gyrus,inferior parietal angular gyrus,angular gyrus,precuneus,paracentral lobule,superior temporal gyrus,middle temporal gyrus,and inferior temporal gyrus(P<0.05,Bonferroni correction).Among them,the node degree of the right postcentral gyrus and the left superior parietal gyrus was the independent factor for the identification of ASD and GDD(P<0.001).Conclusion: Both ASD and GDD children exhibited “small word”property in brain structural network;Compared with TD,the node level topological properties of the brain network in ASD are changed,but the global topological properties can still maintain normal,but the global and node topological properties of the brain network in GDD are changed.The node degree of the right postcentral gyrus and the left superior parietal gyrus has a good value in the differential diagnosis of ASD and GDD.