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Hippocampal subfield CA2+3 exhibits accelerated aging in Alcohol Use Disorder: A preliminary study.

ABSTRACT: The profile of brain structural dysmorphology of individuals with Alcohol Use Disorders (AUD) involves disruption of the limbic system. In vivo imaging studies report hippocampal volume loss in AUD relative to controls, but only recently has it been possible to articulate different regions of this complex structure. Volumetric analysis of hippocampal regions rather than total hippocampal volume may augment differentiation of disease processes. For example, damage to hippocampal subfield cornu ammonis 1 (CA1) is often reported in Alzheimer's disease (AD), whereas deficits in CA4/dentate gyrus are described in response to stress and trauma. Two previous studies explored the effects of chronic alcohol use on hippocampal subfields: one reported smaller volume of the CA2+3 in alcohol-dependent subjects relative to controls, associated with years of alcohol consumption; the other, smaller volumes of presubiculum, subiculum, and fimbria in alcohol-dependent relative to control men. The current study, conducted in 24 adults with DSM5-diagnosed AUD (7 women, 53.7 ± 8.8) and 20 controls (7 women, 54.1 ± 9.3), is the first to use FreeSurfer 6.0, which provides state-of-the art hippocampal parcellation, to explore the sensitivity of hippocampal sufields to alcoholism. T1- and T2- images were collected on a GE MR750 system with a 32-channel Nova head coil. FreeSurfer 6.0 hippocampal subfield analysis produced 12 subfields: parasubiculum; presubiculum; subiculum; CA1; CA2+3; CA4; GC-ML-DG (Granule Cell (GC) and Molecular Layer (ML) of the Dentate Gyrus (DG)); molecular layer; hippocampus-amygdala-transition-area (HATA); fimbria; hippocampal tail; hippocampal fissure; and whole volume for left and right hippocampi. A comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests comprising attention, memory and learning, visuospatial abilities, and executive functions was administered. Multiple regression analyses of raw volumetric data for each subfields by group, age, sex, hemisphere, and supratentorial volume (svol) showed significant effects of svol (p < .04) on nearly all structures (excluding tail and fissure). Volumes corrected for svol showed effects of age (fimbria, fissure) and group (subiculum, CA1, CA4, GC-ML-DG, HATA, fimbria); CA2+3 showed a diagnosis-by-age interaction indicating older AUD individuals had a smaller volume than would be expected for their age. There were no selective relations between hippocampal subfields and performance on neuropsychological tests, likely due to lack of statistical power. The current results concur with the previous study identifying CA2+3 as sensitive to alcoholism, extend them by identifying an alcoholism-age interaction, and suggest an imaging phenotype distinguishing AUD from AD and stress/trauma.

SUBMITTER: Zahr NM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6434095 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) has been associated with abnormalities in hippocampal volumes, but these relationships have not been fully explored with respect to sub-regional volumes, nor in association with individual characteristics such as age, gender differences, drinking history, and memory. The present study examined the impact of those variables in relation to hippocampal subfield volumes in abstinent men and women with a history of AUD. Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging at 3 Tesla, we obtained brain images from 67 participants with AUD (31 women) and 64 nonalcoholic control (NC) participants (31 women). The average duration of the most recent period of sobriety for AUD participants was 7.1 years. We used Freesurfer 6.0 to segment the hippocampus into 12 regions. These were imputed into statistical models to examine the relationships of brain volume with AUD group, age, gender, memory, and drinking history. Interactions with gender and age were of particular interest. Compared to the NC group, the AUD group had approximately 5% smaller subiculum, CA1, molecular layer, and hippocampal tail regions. Age was negatively associated with volumes for the AUD group in the subiculum and the hippocampal tail, but no significant interactions with gender were identified. The relationships for delayed and immediate memory with hippocampal tail volume differed for AUD and NC groups: Higher scores on tests of immediate and delayed memory were associated with smaller volumes in the AUD group, but larger volumes in the NC group. Length of sobriety was associated with decreasing CA1 volume in women (0.19% per year) and increasing volume size in men (0.38% per year). The course of abstinence on CA1 volume differed for men and women, and the differential relationships of subfield volumes to age and memory could indicate a distinction in the impact of AUD on functions of the hippocampal tail. These findings confirm and extend evidence that AUD, age, gender, memory, and abstinence differentially impact volumes of component parts of the hippocampus.

Project description:BackgroundSmaller hippocampal volume in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) represents the most consistently reported structural alteration in the brain. Subfields of the hippocampus play distinct roles in encoding and processing of memories, which are disrupted in PTSD. We examined PTSD-associated alterations in 12 hippocampal subfields in relation to global hippocampal shape, and clinical features.MethodsCase-control cross-sectional studies of U.S. military veterans (n = 282) from the Iraq and Afghanistan era were grouped into PTSD (n = 142) and trauma-exposed controls (n = 140). Participants underwent clinical evaluation for PTSD and associated clinical parameters followed by MRI at 3 T. Segmentation with FreeSurfer v6.0 produced hippocampal subfield volumes for the left and right CA1, CA3, CA4, DG, fimbria, fissure, hippocampus-amygdala transition area, molecular layer, parasubiculum, presubiculum, subiculum, and tail, as well as hippocampal meshes. Covariates included age, gender, trauma exposure, alcohol use, depressive symptoms, antidepressant medication use, total hippocampal volume, and MRI scanner model.ResultsSignificantly lower subfield volumes were associated with PTSD in left CA1 (P = 0.01; d = 0.21; uncorrected), CA3 (P = 0.04; d = 0.08; uncorrected), and right CA3 (P = 0.02; d = 0.07; uncorrected) only if ipsilateral whole hippocampal volume was included as a covariate. A trend level association of L-CA1 with PTSD (F4, 221 = 3.32, P = 0.07) is present and the other subfield findings are nonsignificant if ipsilateral whole hippocampal volume is not included as a covariate. PTSD-associated differences in global hippocampal shape were nonsignificant.ConclusionsThe present finding of smaller hippocampal CA1 in PTSD is consistent with model systems in rodents that exhibit increased anxiety-like behavior from repeated exposure to acute stress. Behavioral correlations with hippocampal subfield volume differences in PTSD will elucidate their relevance to PTSD, particularly behaviors of associative fear learning, extinction training, and formation of false memories.

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Hippocampal subfield CA2+3 exhibits accelerated aging in Alcohol Use Disorder: A preliminary study.

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