Yiğit Hüseyin, Güler Hatice, Temircan Zekeriya, Gökoğlu Abdulkerim, Ökçesiz İzzet, Artar Müge, Dönmez Halil, Unur Erdoğan, Yılmaz Halil
Vocational Health School, Cappadocia University, Nevsehir 50420, Türkiye.
Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38039, Türkiye.
J Clin Med. 2025 Jul 23;14(15):5212. doi: 10.3390/jcm14155212.
Methamphetamine (MA) abuse during adolescence can have a significant impact on brain development. On the other hand, regular exercise is known to promote brain health and may have neuroprotective effects. The purpose of this study is to compare brain volumes in three different adolescent groups: those with active methamphetamine use disorder (MUD), adolescent athletes who regularly exercise, and healthy control adolescents. This MRI study involved three groups of adolescents: 10 with active MUD (9 males, 1 female), nine licensed runner adolescents (three males, six females), and 10 healthy adolescents (5 males, 5 females). Brain volumes were analyzed using T1-weighted images from a 3.0 Tesla MRI scanner, and then segmented automatically with vol2Brain. Statistical analyses included ANCOVA with sex as a covariate and LSD post hoc tests performed using SPSS Statistics 23. Adolescents with MUD showed a 10% increase in total white matter volume compared to the athlete group. Conversely, cortical gray matter volume was reduced by 4% compared to the healthy control group and by 7% compared to the athlete group. The frontal and insular cortices in the MUD group had significantly diminished volumes compared to the athlete group. Overall, individuals with MUD had decreased gray matter volumes and increased white matter volumes in their brains. The brain volumetric differences between the MUD group and the athlete group were statistically significant. The brains of those with MUD displayed a reduction in gray matter volume and an increase in white matter volume, indicating damage from MA on the developing adolescent brain. The volumetric disparities between the MUD and athlete groups were found to be significantly different, suggesting a possible neuroprotective factor of exercise. Further studies are required to explore the potential of exercise-based interventions in alleviating the harmful effects of MA abuse.
青少年时期滥用甲基苯丙胺（MA）会对大脑发育产生重大影响。另一方面，已知规律运动可促进大脑健康并可能具有神经保护作用。本研究的目的是比较三个不同青少年组的脑容量：患有活动性甲基苯丙胺使用障碍（MUD）的青少年、经常运动的青少年运动员以及健康对照青少年。这项磁共振成像（MRI）研究涉及三组青少年：10名患有活动性MUD的青少年（9名男性，1名女性）、9名有执照的青少年跑步运动员（3名男性，6名女性）以及10名健康青少年（5名男性，5名女性）。使用来自3.0特斯拉MRI扫描仪的T1加权图像分析脑容量，然后用vol2Brain自动分割。统计分析包括以性别作为协变量的协方差分析（ANCOVA）以及使用SPSS Statistics 23进行的LSD事后检验。与运动员组相比，患有MUD的青少年总白质体积增加了10%。相反，与健康对照组相比，皮质灰质体积减少了4%，与运动员组相比减少了7%。与运动员组相比，MUD组的额叶和岛叶皮质体积明显减小。总体而言，患有MUD的个体大脑中的灰质体积减少，白质体积增加。MUD组与运动员组之间的脑容量差异具有统计学意义。患有MUD的个体大脑显示灰质体积减少，白质体积增加，表明MA对发育中的青少年大脑造成了损害。发现MUD组与运动员组之间的体积差异显著不同，表明运动可能具有神经保护作用。需要进一步研究以探索基于运动的干预措施在减轻MA滥用有害影响方面的潜力。
