Alterations in connectivity of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis during early abstinence in individuals with alcohol use disorder.

Autor: Flook EA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.; Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA.; Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, Nashville, TN, USA., Feola B; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.; Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA., Benningfield MM; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.; Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA.; Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, Nashville, TN, USA., Silveri MM; Neurodevelopmental Laboratory on Addictions and Mental Health, Brain Imaging Center, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA.; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA., Winder DG; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.; Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA.; Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, Nashville, TN, USA.; Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.; Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA., Blackford JU; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.; Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA.; Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, Nashville, TN, USA.; Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research [Alcohol Clin Exp Res] 2021 May; Vol. 45 (5), pp. 1028-1038. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Apr 08.
DOI: 10.1111/acer.14596
Abstrakt: Background: For individuals with Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), long-term recovery is difficult in part due to symptoms of anxiety that occur during early abstinence and can trigger relapse. Research in rodent models of AUD has identified the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), a small, sexually dimorphic, subcortical region, as critical for regulating anxiety-like behaviors during abstinence, particularly in female mice. Furthermore, prolonged alcohol use and subsequent abstinence alter BNST afferent and efferent connections to other brain regions. To our knowledge, however, no studies of early abstinence have investigated BNST structural connectivity in humans during abstinence; this study addresses that gap.
Methods: Nineteen participants with AUD currently in early abstinence and 20 healthy controls completed a diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scan. BNST structural connectivity was evaluated using probabilistic tractography. A linear mixed model was used to test between-groups differences in BNST network connectivity. Exploratory analyses were conducted to test for correlations between BNST connectivity and alcohol use severity and anxiety within the abstinence group. Sex was included as a factor for all analyses.
Results: The BNST showed stronger structural connectivity with the BNST network in early abstinence women than in control women, which was not seen in men. Women also showed region-specific differences, with stronger BNST-hypothalamus structural connectivity but weaker vmPFC-BNST structural connectivity than men. Exploratory analyses also demonstrated a relationship between alcohol use severity and vmPFC-BNST structural connectivity that was moderated by sex.
Conclusions: This study is the first to demonstrate BNST structural connectivity differences in early abstinence and revealed key sex differences. The sex-specific differences in BNST structural connectivity during early abstinence could underlie known sex differences in abstinence symptoms and relapse risk and help to inform potential sex-specific treatments.
(© 2021 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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