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• Clinical Article •
Investigation of central cross-scale mechanisms in the chronification of neck pain via imaging transcriptomics
GAO Zhen  CUI Mengjie  WANG Haijun  JI Laixi 

Cite this article as: GAO Z, CUI M J, WANG H J, et al. Investigation of central cross-scale mechanisms in the chronification of neck pain via imaging transcriptomics[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2025, 16(3): 18-23. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2025.03.003.


[Abstract] Objective To explore the central pathological mechanisms underlying the transition from acute to chronic neck pain using imaging transcriptomics.Materials and Methods From March 2023 to May 2024, 86 patients with acute neck pain and 89 patients with chronic neck pain were recruited from Shanxi University of Chinese Medicine and Shanxi Provincial Hospital of Acupuncture and Moxibustion. Using a 3.0 T MR scanner to collect resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data based on blood oxygen level-dependent signals from the subjects, with the hypothalamus as the seed region for whole-brain functional connectivity (FC) analysis. Imaging transcriptomics analysis was performed using the Allen Human Brain Atlas (AHBA) transcriptomic dataset, and partial least squares (PLS) regression was employed to investigate regional changes in brain functional activity and gene expression between chronic and acute pain patients. Gene enrichment analysis was conducted using Metascape to reveal the central cross-scale mechanisms during the chronicification of neck pain.Results Compared to acute neck pain, patients with chronic neck pain exhibited increased FC values in the left hypothalamus and right orbital superior frontal gyrus, and decreased FC values in the left hypothalamus and right middle frontal gyrus (Voxel-level P < 0.01, Cluster-level P < 0.05). Additionally, this study found that the PLS1 model explained 43.43% of the variance, and the PLS1weighted gene expression profile was positively correlated with the case-control t-map space (Pearson's r = 0.491, P < 0.05). Enrichment analysis revealed that PLS1+ genes were closely associated with cellular components such as "glutamatergic synapse" and biological processes like "synaptic signaling," while PLS1- genes were closely related to cellular components like "intermediate filament cytoskeleton," molecular functions such as "DNA binding transcription activator activity," and biological processes including "regulation of growth hormone secretion".Conclusions A cross-scale analysis based on imaging transcriptomics has uncovered comprehensive changes in brain functional activity, gene expression, and cell composition during the chronicification of neck pain. This indicates that the chronicification of neck pain is a multi-level and multi-scale interactive process involving molecular levels, cellular structures, and brain network functions.
[Keywords] neck pain；imaging transcriptomics；functional connectivity；chronic pain development；magnetic resonance imaging；cross-scale mechanisms

GAO Zhen1, 2   CUI Mengjie3   WANG Haijun3   JI Laixi3*  

1 Experimental Management Center, Shanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Jinzhong 030619, China

2 Traditional Chinese Medicine and Rehabilitation Department, Taiyuan Peace Hospital, Taiyuan 030024, China

3 The Second Clinical College, Shanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Jinzhong 030619, China

Corresponding author: JI L X, E-mail: jlx@sxtcm.edu.cn

Conflicts of interest   None.

Received  2024-11-22
Accepted  2025-02-28
DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2025.03.003
Cite this article as: GAO Z, CUI M J, WANG H J, et al. Investigation of central cross-scale mechanisms in the chronification of neck pain via imaging transcriptomics[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2025, 16(3): 18-23. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2025.03.003.

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