title: Direct voxel-based comparisons between grey matter shrinkage and glucose hypometabolism in chronic alcoholism.
abstract: Alcoholism is associated with widespread brain structural abnormalities affecting mainly the frontocerebellar and the Papez's circuits. Brain glucose metabolism has received limited attention, and few studies used regions of interest approach and showed reduced global brain metabolism predominantly in the frontal and parietal lobes. Even though these studies have examined the relationship between grey matter shrinkage and hypometabolism, none has performed a direct voxel-by-voxel comparison between the degrees of structural and metabolic abnormalities. Seventeen alcoholic patients and 16 control subjects underwent both structural magnetic resonance imaging and (18)F-2-fluoro-deoxy-glucose-positron emission tomography examinations. Structural abnormalities and hypometabolism were examined in alcoholic patients compared with control subjects using two-sample t-tests. Then, these two patterns of brain damage were directly compared with a paired t-test. Compared to controls, alcoholic patients had grey matter shrinkage and hypometabolism in the fronto-cerebellar circuit and several nodes of Papez's circuit. The direct comparison revealed greater shrinkage than hypometabolism in the cerebellum, cingulate cortex, thalamus and hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus. Conversely, hypometabolism was more severe than shrinkage in the dorsolateral, premotor and parietal cortices. The distinct profiles of abnormalities found within the Papez's circuit, the fronto-cerebellar circuit and the parietal gyrus in chronic alcoholism suggest the involvement of different pathological mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: INSERM, Caen, France Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, Caen, France Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Caen, France Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Caen, France.
authors.forename: Ludivine
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ritz
authors.affiliation: INSERM, Caen, France Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, Caen, France Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Caen, France Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Caen, France.
authors.forename: Shailendra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Segobin
authors.affiliation: INSERM, Caen, France Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, Caen, France Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Caen, France Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Caen, France.
authors.forename: Coralie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lannuzel
authors.affiliation: INSERM, Caen, France Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, Caen, France Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Caen, France Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Caen, France Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Service D'Addictologie, Caen, France.
authors.forename: Céline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Boudehent
authors.affiliation: INSERM, Caen, France Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, Caen, France Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Caen, France Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Caen, France Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Service D'Addictologie, Caen, France.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vabret
authors.affiliation: INSERM, Caen, France Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, Caen, France Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Caen, France Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Caen, France.
authors.forename: Francis
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Eustache
authors.affiliation: INSERM, Caen, France Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, Caen, France Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Caen, France Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Caen, France.
authors.forename: Hélène
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Beaunieux
authors.affiliation: INSERM, Caen, France Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, Caen, France Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Caen, France Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Caen, France pitel@cyceron.fr.
authors.forename: Anne L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Pitel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D001284:Atrophy / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002531:Cerebellum; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D010296:Parietal Lobe; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography
chemical_list: D005947:Glucose
keywords: Alcoholism; FDG–PET; Papez; fronto-cerebellar circuit; structural MRI