title: A preliminary longitudinal study of white matter alteration in cocaine use disorder subjects.
abstract: Previous diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies have consistently shown that subjects with cocaine use disorder (CocUD) had altered white matter microstructure in the corpus callosum. It is believed that these alterations are due to preexisting factors, chronic cocaine use, or both. However, there is no published longitudinal DTI study on human cocaine users yet which could shed light on the relationship between cocaine use and DTI findings.
  
  
  
  This study used a longitudinal design and DTI to test if the white matter microstructure shows quicker alteration in CocUD subjects than controls. DTI data were acquired from eleven CocUD subjects who participated a treatment study and eleven non-drug-using controls at baseline (Scan 1) and after ten weeks (Scan 2). The baseline fractional anisotropy (FA), a general measure of white matter microstucture, and the change in FA (ΔFA, equals Scan 1 FA minus Scan 2 FA) were both compared between groups.
  
  
  
  The two groups did not show a difference in FA at baseline. The CocUD subjects had significantly greater ΔFA than the controls in the left splenium of the corpus callosum. In CocUD subjects, greater ΔFA in this region was associated with shorter lifetime cocaine use and greater number of positive cocaine urine samples collected during the treatment.
  
  
  
  The finding in the left splenium is consistent with previous animal studies and provide indirect evidence about the effects of chronic cocaine use on white matter alterations. The subject sample size is small, therefore the results should be treated as preliminary.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Richmond, VA, USA; Department of Radiology, VCU, Richmond, VA, USA. Electronic address: Liangsuo.ma@vcuhealth.edu.
authors.forename: Liangsuo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Richmond, VA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, VCU, Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Joel L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Steinberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistical Sciences and Operations Research, VCU, Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHSC), Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Joy M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Schmitz
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistical Sciences and Operations Research, VCU, Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Edward L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Boone
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Imaging, UTHSC, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Ponnada A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Narayana
authors.affiliation: Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Richmond, VA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, VCU, Richmond, VA, USA; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, VCU, Richmond, VA, USA; Department of Neurology, VCU, Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: F Gerard
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Moeller
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016880:Anisotropy; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D066127:White Matter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cocaine use disorder; Diffusion tensor imaging; Longitudinal design; TBSS