Brain Structural and Functional Connectivity Changes in the Period of Dysmenorrhea: a Prospective fMRI Study

Brain Structural and Functional Connectivity Changes in the Period of Dysmenorrhea: a Prospective Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Observational prospective study with an analysis of the changes in brain structure and related functional connectivity in women with dysmenorrhea.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Dysmenorrhea is a common gynecological disease and chronic pain disorder.Understanding the neural mechanisms of dysmenorrhea and the brain changes affecting pain factors is important for finding dysmenorrhea treatment methods. The emergence and progress of non-invasive neuroimaging technology can help us better understand pain at the neural level. Recent developments in identifying brain-based biomarkers of pain through advances in advanced imaging can provide some foundations for predicting and detecting pain. Twenty patients with dysmenorrhea and twenty matched female healthy controls were recruited from our hospital. All participants underwent the head magnetic resonance imaging scans to calculate grey matter volume and Diffusion Tensor Imaging parameters. Questionnaire assessment was also conducted.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

20

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

All the patients with dysmenorrhea underwent pelvic ultrasonography to identify the cause of dysmenorrhea. The study will be conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Institutional Review Board of Women's Hospital School of Medicine Zhejiang University. All participants will give their written informed consent.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Right-handedness, as confirmed by the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory
  • A regular menstrual cycle of approximately 21 to 35 days
  • A history of menstrual pain longer than 6 months
  • Not taking any medication or using other methods to treat dysmenorrhea in the past month
  • Score of >= 40mm on the VAS (visual analogue scale) in recent three menstrual cycles

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Any psychiatric or neurological disorders, particularly premenstrual dysphoric disorder
  • Using oral contraceptives, hormonal supplements, or any central-acting medication (eg, opioid, antiepileptics) within 6 months before the study
  • Having a metal or pacemaker implant, claustrophobia, or any contraindications to MR
  • Head injury with loss of consciousness

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
dysmenorrhea
Dysmenorrhea, defined as painful menstrual cramps of uterine origin, is the most common gynecological condition among women of reproductive age.
female healthy controls

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
The functional connectivity of functional magnetic resonance imaging
Time Frame: 1 month
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)-based functional connectivity (FC) commonly characterizes the functional connections in the brain.
1 month

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Grey Matter volume
Time Frame: 1 month
the grey matter volume is defined as the amount of grey matter that lies between the grey-white interface and the pia mater.
1 month

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

January 1, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

August 31, 2024

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 4, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 19, 2023

First Posted (Estimated)

December 21, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

December 21, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 19, 2023

Last Verified

December 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • IRB-20230284-R

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.