Cerebral phosphorus metabolite and transverse relaxation time abnormalities in heroin-dependent subjects at onset of methadone maintenance treatment

• Published in: Psychiatry research 2004-09, Vol.131 (3), p.217-226
• Main Authors: Silveri, Marisa M., Pollack, Mark H., Diaz, Claudia I., Nassar, Leanne E., Mendelson, Jack H., Yurgelun-Todd, Deborah A., Renshaw, Perry F., Kaufman, Marc J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 31P MRS; Addictive behaviors; Adenosine Triphosphate - metabolism; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Basal Ganglia - drug effects; Basal Ganglia - physiopathology; Biochemistry and metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; Central nervous system; Cerebral Cortex - drug effects; Cerebral Cortex - physiopathology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Drug addiction; Energy Metabolism - physiology; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Heroin; Heroin Dependence - physiopathology; Heroin Dependence - rehabilitation; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; Male; Medical sciences; Methadone - therapeutic use; Methadone maintenance; Narcotics - therapeutic use; PCr; Phosphocreatine - metabolism; Phospholipids; Phospholipids - metabolism; Phosphorus - metabolism; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Regional Blood Flow - physiology; Substance Abuse Detection; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome - diagnosis; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome - physiopathology; T2-RT; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs
• ISSN: 0925-4927; 0165-1781; 1872-7506
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2004.05.003

Cerebral bioenergetic and phospholipid abnormalities have been reported in heroin-dependent subjects. The goal of the present study was to characterize the neurochemical profile of subjects voluntarily enrolled in a methadone maintenance (MM) treatment program to overcome their heroin addiction. Participants included 43 heroin-dependent subjects during their first month of MM and 15 age-matched healthy individuals. Phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 31P MRS) and transverse relaxation times (T2-RT), which can reflect steady state cerebral perfusion and metabolism, were acquired at 1.5 T from an axial slice prescribed through the orbitofrontal and occipital cortices, including basal ganglia and frontal cortex. MM subjects exhibited reduced phosphocreatine (PCr) levels (−15.3%), elevated phosphodiesters (+ 12.9%, PDE) and significantly longer T2-RT ((+) 2.1%) compared with healthy comparison subjects. When MM subjects were stratified into subgroups based on treatment duration, we found a treatment duration effect on metabolite values but not T2-RT; reduced PCr was observed only after 8+ days of MM, and phosphomonoesters (PME) were elevated in the 15–28 day MM group. Taken together, these cross-sectional data suggest that the first month of MM treatment may be associated with altered cerebral bioenergetics and phospholipid metabolite levels.