Document Detail


Neurochemical alterations in adolescent chronic marijuana smokers: a proton MRS study.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  21349338     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Converging evidence from neuroimaging and neuropsychological studies indicates that heavy marijuana use is associated with cingulate dysfunction. However, there has been limited human data documenting in vivo biochemical brain changes after chronic marijuana exposure. Previous proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies have demonstrated reduced basal ganglia glutamate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex N-acetyl aspartate levels in adult chronic marijuana users. Similar studies have not been reported in adolescent populations. The present study used proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy to determine whether reductions in glutamate, N-acetyl aspartate and/or other proton metabolite concentrations would be found in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) of adolescent marijuana users compared with non-using controls. Adolescent marijuana users (N=17; average age 17.8 years) and similarly aged healthy control subjects (N=17; average age 16.2 years) were scanned using a Siemens 3T Trio MRI system. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy data were acquired from a 22.5 mL voxel positioned bilaterally within the ACC. Spectra were fitted using commercial software and all metabolite integrals were normalized to the scaled unsuppressed water integral. Analysis of variance and analysis of covariance were performed to compare between-group metabolite levels. The marijuana-using cohort showed statistically significant reductions in anterior cingulate glutamate (-15%, p<0.01), N-acetyl aspartate (-13%, p=0.02), total creatine (-10%, p<0.01) and myo-inositol (-10%, p=0.03). Within-voxel tissue-type segmentation did not reveal any significant differences in gray/white matter or cerebrospinal fluid content between the two groups. The reduced glutamate and N-acetyl aspartate levels in the adolescent marijuana-using cohort are consistent with precedent human (1)H MRS data, and likely reflect an alteration of anterior cingulate glutamatergic neurotransmission and neuronal integrity within these individuals. The reduced total creatine and myo-inositol levels observed in these subjects might infer altered ACC energetic status and glial metabolism, respectively. These results expand on previous functional MRI data reporting altered cingulate function in individuals with marijuana-abuse.
Authors:
Andrew P Prescot; Allison E Locatelli; Perry F Renshaw; Deborah A Yurgelun-Todd
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural     Date:  2011-02-22
Journal Detail:
Title:  NeuroImage     Volume:  57     ISSN:  1095-9572     ISO Abbreviation:  Neuroimage     Publication Date:  2011 Jul 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2011-05-24     Completed Date:  2011-10-19     Revised Date:  2012-03-15    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  9215515     Medline TA:  Neuroimage     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  69-75     Citation Subset:  IM    
Copyright Information:
Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Affiliation:
Brain Institute, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT 84108, USA. andrew.prescot@utah.edu
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Adolescent
Aspartic Acid / analogs & derivatives,  analysis
Brain Chemistry / drug effects*
Female
Glutamic Acid / analysis
Gyrus Cinguli / chemistry*,  drug effects*
Humans
Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted
Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
Male
Marijuana Smoking / adverse effects*
Young Adult
Grant Support
ID/Acronym/Agency:
1R01 DA020269/DA/NIDA NIH HHS; K05 DA031247-02/DA/NIDA NIH HHS; K24 DA015116-01/DA/NIDA NIH HHS; K24DA01511/DA/NIDA NIH HHS; R01 DA020269-04/DA/NIDA NIH HHS
Chemical
Reg. No./Substance:
56-84-8/Aspartic Acid; 56-86-0/Glutamic Acid; 997-55-7/N-acetylaspartate

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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