Brain Gray and White Matter Volume Loss Accelerates with Aging in Chronic Alcoholics: A Quantitative MRI Study

Abstract

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to study in vivo the brains of 49 patients with chronic alcoholism, 3 to 4 weeks post-withdrawal, and 43 normal healthy controls, all right-handed male veterans between the ages of 23 and 70 years. MRI scans were analyzed using a semi-automated procedure, which allowed the subcortical regions to be segmented into cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and brain tissue and the cortical regions to be segmented into CSF, gray matter, and white matter. An age regression model was used to examine the effects of alcohol on brain structure, over and above that expected from the normal aging process. The alcoholics exhibited decreased tissue and increased CSF after correcting for aging. In the cortex, there was significant loss of both gray matter and white matter volume. In this sample of alcoholics, no particular cortical region was preferentially affected or spared. Furthermore, brain tissue volume loss increased with advanced age in the alcoholics. In this group of alcoholics there was no relationship between length of illness and age, i.e., the younger alcoholics had as heavy alcohol use histories as did the older alcoholics. Thus, the increased brain tissue loss with advanced age is interpreted as evidence for age-related increase in brain vulnerability to chronic alcohol abuse.

Differential protein expression in the prefrontal white matter of human alcoholics: a proteomics study

“…7,8 CT and MRI observations of reduced white matter volumes in alcoholics 2,3 have been confirmed by quantitative pathological studies. 9 In a volumetric study, Kril et al 10 demonstrated a negative correlation between white matter volume and maximum daily alcohol intake.…”

“…Proteomics of human alcoholic prefrontal cortex K Alexander-Kaufman et al alcoholics. 2,3,[9][10][11] A general decline in the expression of differentially expressed proteins was documented in alcoholic brains. Average PMIs for both alcoholic groups were longer than the control group and this may suggest some post-mortem degradation.…”

“…[1][2][3] There is evidence that frontal lobe structures, such as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (BA9), are specifically altered in alcohol-related brain damage. Neuropsychological assessments of neurologically normal alcoholics have reported selective alterations of frontal executive functions, such as planning or problem-solving ability.…”

Brain Morphometry and Cognitive Performance in Detoxified Alcohol-Dependents with Preserved Psychosocial Functioning

“…In subjects with severe alcohol-dependence, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have consistently shown reduced gray and white matter volumes, with marked losses in the frontal lobes, the medial temporal, and parietal cortices, in subcortical structures (thalamus, caudate, and lenticularis nuclei) and in the cerebellar cortex (Brewer and Perrett, 1971;Jernigan et al, 1991;Pfefferbaum et al, 1992;Shear et al, 1996;Sullivan, 2003a;Sullivan et al, 2003b). Thinning of the corpus callosum , reduced volume in the pons (Sullivan et al, 2003b) and in the cerebellar vermis were also reported.…”

“…Although there is a substantial literature regarding its incidence on structural brain damage (eg Fein et al, 2002;Hommer et al, 2001;Pfefferbaum et al, 1992) and neuropsychological function (Parsons and Nixon, 1998;Oscar-Berman et al, 1997) in detoxified alcohol-dependents, no study has explored its consequences in alcoholdependents with preserved psychosocial functioning.…”