Non-treatment-seeking heavy drinkers: Effects of chronic cigarette smoking on brain structure

Abstract

We previously reported [Cardenas, V.A., Studholme, C., Meyerhoff, D.J., Song, E., Weiner, M.W., 2005. Chronic active heavy drinking and family history of problem drinking modulate regional brain tissue volumes. Psychiatry Res. 138, 115−130] that non-treatment-seeking, active heavy drinkers (HD) demonstrated smaller regional neocortical gray matter volumes compared to light drinking controls; however, the potential effects of chronic cigarette smoking on regional brain volumes were not addressed. The goal of this retrospective analysis was to determine if chronic smoking affected brain structure in the non-treatment-seeking heavy drinking sample from our earlier report (i.e., Cardenas et al., 2005). Regional volumetric comparisons were made among age-matched smoking HD (n = 17), non-smoking HD (n = 16), and non-smoking light drinkers (nsLD; n = 20) from our original sample. Quantitative volumetric measures of neocortical gray matter (GM), white matter (WM), subcortical structures, and cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) were derived from high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging. Smoking HD demonstrated smaller volumes than nsLD in the frontal, parietal, temporal GM, and for total neocortical GM. Smoking HD also demonstrated smaller temporal and total GM volumes than non-smoking HD. Non-smoking HD and nsLD did not differ significantly on GM volumes. Further, the three groups did not differ on lobar WM, subcortical structures or regional CSF volumes. These retrospective analyses indicate neocortical GM volume reductions in non-treatment-seeking smoking HD, but not in non-smoking HD, which are consistent with our studies in recently detoxified treatment-seeking alcohol-dependent samples.

Chronic Smoking Is Associated With Differential Neurocognitive Recovery in Abstinent Alcoholic Patients: A Preliminary Investigation

“…Smoking ALC also demonstrated significantly lower recovery of frontal markers of neuronal integrity and frontal and temporal markers of cell membrane synthesis/turnover over approximately 1 month of abstinence (Durazzo et al, 2006a). Additionally, we observed smaller frontal GM volumes in actively drinking, treatment-naı¨ve alcoholic patients (Durazzo et al, 2007). In the present study, smoking ALC demonstrated significantly less longitudinal improvement than nonsmoking ALC on measures of cognitive efficiency, executive skills, visuospatial skills, and working memory, which are all suggested to be extensively subserved by dorsolateral and mesial frontal-striatal-thalamic circuitry (Cummings, 1998;Eslinger et al, 1995;Gazzaniga et al, 2002;Kolb and Whishaw, 2003;Mega and Cummings, 1994;Saint-Cyr, 2003).…”

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Studies of Cigarette Smoking

“…In line with the previous findings, irrespective of alcohol consumption, smokers had smaller parietal and temporal gray matter, and greater white matter than nonsmokers. More recently, volumetric comparisons were made among agematched smoking heavy drinkers (n = 17), nonsmoking heavy drinkers (n = 16), and nonsmoking light drinkers (n = 20) (Durazzo et al 2007). Smoking heavy drinkers demonstrated smaller temporal lobe and global gray matter volumes than nonsmoking heavy drinkers.…”

Brain grey matter deficits in smokers: focus on the cerebellum

“…In neuroscientific research smoking has been associated with largescale structural brain alterations (Fukuda and Kitani 1996;Gazdzinski et al 2005;Longstreth et al 2000Longstreth et al , 2001. More recent studies used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) (Brody et al 2004;Durazzo et al 2007;Gallinat et al 2006) or measures of cortical thickness (Kühn et al 2010) to assess the exact location of alterations in grey matter of the brain. Those studies employing magnetic resonance (MR) volumetric investigations comparing smokers and never-smokers found mainly reductions in cerebral grey matter not only in prefrontal, anterior cingulate, parietal, and temporal cortex but also in the cerebellum (Brody et al 2004;Gallinat et al 2006).…”