title: Methadone-induced Damage to White Matter Integrity in Methadone Maintenance Patients: A Longitudinal Self-control DTI Study.
abstract: Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) can induce impairments in brain function and structure, despite its clinical effectiveness. However, the effect of chronic MMT on brain white matter (WM) is not fully known. Thirty-three MMT patients underwent diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) twice - at the start of the study (Scan1) and one year later (Scan2). Tract-based spatial statistics were used to investigate changes in fractional anisotropy (FA), axial diffusivity (AD) and radial diffusivity (RD) between the two scans. The correlations between DTI indices and methadone consumption and neuropsychological status were analysed. We found significantly decreased FA, decreased AD and increased RD in Scan2 in extensive WM regions; overlapping regions were found in the left posterior limb and the retrolenticular part of internal capsule, superior and posterior corona radiata, bilateral external capsule and the right superior longitudinal fasciculus. In addition, the change of FA in the overlapping regions was positively correlated with the accumulated dosage of methadone use, the RD value in Scan2 and non-planning impulsiveness (NPI) measured at follow-up. The results suggest that methadone has damaging effects on WM integrity. The dose-dependent pattern and characteristics of the impairment may suggest new strategies for MMT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Tangdu Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710038, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Tangdu Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710038, China.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Tangdu Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710038, China.
authors.forename: Yarong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Tangdu Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710038, China.
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Tangdu Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710038, China.
authors.forename: Jianjun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Tangdu Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710038, China.
authors.forename: Xuejiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Tangdu Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710038, China.
authors.forename: Yongbin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Tangdu Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710038, China.
authors.forename: Jiajie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Tangdu Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710038, China.
authors.forename: Jierong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Tangdu Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710038, China.
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Tangdu Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710038, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Tangdu Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710038, China.|Department of Psychiatry, McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.
authors.forename: Yijun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003710:Demography; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D060046:Maintenance Chemotherapy; D008297:Male; D008691:Methadone / Q000009:adverse effects*; D066127:White Matter / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D008691:Methadone