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Olfactory cortex and Olfactory bulb volume alterations in patients with post-infectious Olfactory loss

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Abstract

Upper respiratory tract infection (URI) is one of the most common etiology of olfactory loss. Previous studies demonstrated that both olfactory bulb (OB) volume and sulcus (OS) depth decreased in patients with post-infectious olfactory loss (PIOL) compared to normal controls. The aim of our study was to observe alterations of central olfactory pathways in patients with PIOL. T1 weighted magnetic resonance images were acquired in 19 PIOL patients and 19 age- and sex-matched control subjects on a 3 T scanner. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was performed using VBM8 toolbox and SPM8 in a Matlab environment. We also analyzed OB volume in coronal T2-weighted images. Whole-brain analysis revealed a significant gray matter volume loss in the right orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in patients group. Further analysis with region of interest exhibited a significant negative correlation between gray matter volume in right OFC as well as OB volume and the duration of olfactory loss in these patients (r = -0.566 and r = -0.535 both P < 0.05, respectively). In conclusion, the morphological alterations in the right OFC and OB might contribute to the pathogenic mechanism of olfactory dysfunction after upper respiratory tract infection.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Thomas Hummel for valuable assistance on the manuscript.

Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [81,670,903] and the Foundation of Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University (No.2016Z02).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

    Linyin Yao

  2. Department of Radiology, Capital Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing, China

    Xiaoli Yi

  3. Section of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Department of Surgery, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Jayant Marian Pinto

  4. Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, Anzhen Road 2, 100029, Beijing, China

    Xiandao Yuan, Yichen Guo, Yifan Liu & Yongxiang Wei

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  1. Linyin Yao
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  2. Xiaoli Yi
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  3. Jayant Marian Pinto
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  4. Xiandao Yuan
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  5. Yichen Guo
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  6. Yifan Liu
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  7. Yongxiang Wei
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Contributions

L. Yao and X. Yi, substantial contributions to conception and design, drafting the article and revising it critically for important intellectual content, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data, and final approval of the version to be published; Y. Wei, substantial contributions to conception and design, analysis and interpretation of data, and final approval of the version to be published; J.M. Pinto, analysis and interpretation of data, revising the article, and final approval of the version to be published; Y. Guo and Y. Liu, who were the observers to measure OB volume, contribution to acquisition of data and final approval of the version to be published; X. Yuan, who was the third referee to measure OB volume, contributions to acquisition of data and final approval of the version to be published.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yongxiang Wei.

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The authors report no financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Yao, L., Yi, X., Pinto, J.M. et al. Olfactory cortex and Olfactory bulb volume alterations in patients with post-infectious Olfactory loss. Brain Imaging and Behavior 12, 1355–1362 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-017-9807-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-017-9807-7

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