海洛因成瘾者大脑皮层厚度的变化

A study on the cortical thickness alteration in heroin-dependent individuals

目的探讨海洛因成瘾对大脑皮层厚度的影响及海洛因使用年限与皮层厚度的关系。方法对18例海洛因成瘾者(HDI组)及15例健康志愿者(HC组)进行Philips1.5TMR扫描获取高分辨T13D全脑结构图;利用Free Surfer软件对图像进行分析,检测HDI组皮层厚度的异常改变。结果 1基于顶点的分析结果显示,HDI组皮层厚度变薄的区域主要位于双侧额上皮层、左侧额中皮层尾部、右侧脑岛和右侧颞上皮层。皮层增厚的区域主要位于双侧舌回、左侧顶上皮层、左侧颞极、右侧枕叶外侧皮层、右侧顶下皮层和右侧楔叶;2基于感兴趣区的分析,HDI组较HC组患者左侧额上沟、左侧楔前叶、左侧距状沟、左侧侧副沟、右侧枕颞内侧和舌回皮层变薄;3 HD组中右侧额上皮层和右侧脑岛的皮层厚度与海洛因使用年限呈负相关。结论海洛因成瘾者存在大脑皮层厚度改变,且吸毒年限可能是导致脑结构改变的重要影响因素。

Objective To study the effects of heroin exposure on cortical thickness and the relationship between cortical thickness and the duration of heroin use. Methods In this study, we acquired 3D high-resolution T1 weighted brain structural magnetic resonance imaging （MRI） data from 18 heroin-dependent individuals （HDIs） and 15 healthy controls （HCs） using a 1.5 T MR scanner （Phillips）. Using FreeSurfer, we detected abnormalities in cortical thickness in the HDIs. Results （1） Based on a vertex-wise analysis, the HDIs showed significantly decreased cortical thickness in the bilateral superior frontal, left caudal middle frontal, fight superior temporal, and right insular regions compared to the HCs; and significantly increased cortical thickness in the left superior parietal, bilateral lingual, left temporal pole, right inferior parietal, right lateral occipital, and right cuneus regions. （2） A subsequent ROI-wise analysis showed that, HDIs had a decreased cortical thickness in the left superior frontal sulcus, left precuneus gyms, left calcarine sulcus, left anterior transverse collateral sulcus, and the right medial occipital-temporal and lingual sulcus. These regions partially overlapped with the areas identified using the vertex-wise analysis. （3） In addition, we found that the thickness in the right superior frontal and fight insular regions was negatively correlated with the duration of heroin use. Conclusion These results provide compelling evidence for cortical abnormality in HDIs and also suggest that the duration of heroin use may be a critical factor associated with the brain alteration.