Hippocampal volume reduction in female but not male recent abstinent methamphetamine users.
Growing evidence suggests abnormalities in brain morphology including hippocampal structure in patients with methamphetamine (MA) dependence. This study was performed to examine hippocampal volume in abstinent MA users, and to further explore its relationship with cognitive function. 30 abstinent MA users (20 males and 10 females) with average 5.52 months of duration of abstinence and 29 healthy controls (19 males and 10 females) age 18-45 years old were recruited for clinical assessment and imaging scan. FreeSurfer was used to segment the hippocampus bilaterally, and hippocampal volumes were extracted for group and gender comparisons. Cognitive function was measured using the CogState Battery Chinese language version (CSB-C). Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) controlling for education showed a significant group by gender interaction for the right hippocampal relative volume adjusted for total brain size (p = 0.020); there was a significant difference between male controls and female controls (p < 0.001), but such a difference did not exist between male patients and female patients (p = 0.203). No significant correlations were found between hippocampal volume and cognitive measures. There seems to be a gender difference in how MA affects hippocampal volume in abstinent MA users. Hippocampus might be an important treatment target for cognitive improvement and functional recovery in this patient population, especially in females.
Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Jiang
J
Du
UMass Memorial Medical Center/University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
Meina
M
Quan
Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Wenxu
W
Zhuang
Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Na
N
Zhong
Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Haifeng
H
Jiang
UMass Memorial Medical Center/University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
David N
DN
Kennedy
UMass Memorial Medical Center/University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
Amy
A
Harrington
UMass Memorial Medical Center/University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
Douglas
D
Ziedonis
UMass Memorial Medical Center/University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA. Electronic address: Xiaoduo.Fan@umassmed.edu.
Xiaoduo
X
Fan
Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: drminzhao@gmail.com.
Min
M
Zhao
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008694:Methamphetamine / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult
D008694:Methamphetamine
Gender difference; Hippocampal volume; Methamphetamine dependence