Department of Radiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Department Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Transl Psychiatry. 2021 May 1;11(1):257. doi: 10.1038/s41398-021-01374-y.
No in vivo human studies have examined the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) neuropathology in individuals with alcohol-use disorder (AUD), although recent research suggests that a relationship between the two exists. Therefore, this study used Pittsburgh Compound-B ([C]PiB) PET imaging to test the hypothesis that AUD is associated with greater brain amyloid (Aβ) burden in middle-aged adults compared to healthy controls. Twenty healthy participants (14M and 6F) and 19 individuals with AUD (15M and 4F), all aged 40-65 years, underwent clinical assessment, MRI, neurocognitive testing, and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Global [C]PiB standard uptake value ratios (SUVRs), cortical thickness, gray matter volumes (GMVs), and neurocognitive function in subjects with AUD were compared to healthy controls. These measures were selected because they are considered markers of risk for future AD and other types of neurocognitive dysfunction. The results of this study showed no significant differences in % global Aβ positivity or subthreshold Aβ loads between AUD and controls. However, relative to controls, we observed a significant 6.1% lower cortical thickness in both AD-signature regions and in regions not typically associated with AD, lower GMV in the hippocampus, and lower performance on tests of attention as well as immediate and delayed memory in individuals with AUD. This suggest that Aβ accumulation is not greater in middle-aged individuals with AUD. However, other markers of neurodegeneration, such as impaired memory, cortical thinning, and reduced hippocampal GMV, are present. Further studies are needed to elucidate the patterns and temporal staging of AUD-related pathophysiology and cognitive impairment. Imaging β-amyloid in middle age alcoholics as a mechanism that increases their risk for Alzheimer's disease; Registration Number: NCT03746366 .
目前尚无研究在患有酒精使用障碍（AUD）的个体中检查阿尔茨海默病（AD）神经病理学的流行率，尽管最近的研究表明两者之间存在关系。因此，本研究使用匹兹堡化合物-B（[C]PiB）PET 成像来检验假设，即与健康对照组相比，AUD 与中年成年人的大脑淀粉样蛋白（Aβ）负担更大相关。20 名健康参与者（14 名男性和 6 名女性）和 19 名 AUD 患者（15 名男性和 4 名女性），年龄均在 40-65 岁之间，接受了临床评估、MRI、神经认知测试和正电子发射断层扫描（PET）成像。与健康对照组相比，比较了 AUD 患者的全脑 [C]PiB 标准摄取比值（SUVR）、皮质厚度、灰质体积（GMV）和神经认知功能。选择这些措施是因为它们被认为是未来 AD 和其他类型神经认知功能障碍的风险标志物。本研究结果显示，AUD 与对照组之间的全脑 Aβ 阳性率或亚阈值 Aβ负荷无显著差异。然而，与对照组相比，我们观察到 AUD 患者的 AD 特征区域和通常与 AD 无关的区域的皮质厚度分别低 6.1%，海马 GMV 降低，以及注意力、即刻和延迟记忆测试的表现降低。这表明，Aβ 在 AUD 中年个体中没有增加。然而，存在其他神经退行性变的标志物，例如记忆力受损、皮质变薄和海马 GMV 减少。需要进一步的研究来阐明 AUD 相关的病理生理学和认知障碍的模式和时间分期。
