Table 2.
MRS and PET GABA studies in drug addiction.
| Reference | Sample | Mean Age (SD) |
Sex | Mean Abst Duration (SD) |
Medication and/or Tx |
Other Drug Use |
Psychiatric or Medical |
Regions of Interest |
Imaging Method |
Primary Glutamate Imaging Outcome (vs. Controls) |
Clinical or Neuropsych Correlates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alcohol | |||||||||||
| (Abi-Dargham et al., 1998) | 11 AUD 11 HC |
44 (8) 43 (10) |
11M/0F 11M/0F |
98 (46) d | VA Medical Center (Unspec Tx) |
NR | NR | 5 Cereb, 4 Subco, Cerebel |
SPECT [123I]iomazenil |
↓VT PFC ACC, Cerebel |
NS |
| (Behar et al., 1999) | 5 AUD 10 HC |
46 (11) 35 (7) |
Unspec | 34 (20) d | VA Medical Center |
Nic | NR | Occip | MRS | ↓ GABA (+homocarnosine ) |
↓ GABA corr ↑ delayed memory |
| (Gilman et al., 1996) | 17 AUD 14 HC |
52 (Approx) 46 (13) |
17M/0F 14M/0F |
≥17 d | VA Medical Center (Unspec Tx) |
NR | Cerebel degeneration (n=8) |
pACC, Cerebel, Pariet, Cereb |
PET [11C]flumazeni I |
↓ VT pACC | NA |
| (Jalan et al., 2000) | 6 AUD 11 HC |
61 55 |
4M/2F 8M/3F |
≥ 6 mo | NR | NR | Cirrhosis | Cereb, Cerebel, BG |
PET [11C]flumazeni I |
↑ VT | NA |
| (Lingford-Hughes et al., 1998) | 12 AUD 14 HC |
43.2 (10.9) 39.9 (8.5) |
12M/0F 14M/0F |
22.5 (50.2) | Unspec SSRI | MJ, MDMA | Depress | Whole brain |
PET [123I]iomazenil |
↑ VT MPFC Pariet |
↓ VT corr ↑ Alc severity |
| (Lingford-Hughes et al., 2000) | 9 AUD 13 HC |
42.9 (7.6) 38.1 (9.0) |
0M/9F 0M/13F |
30.4 (53.2) mo | fluoxetine, venlafaxine, amitriptyline |
Coc, Amph | Depress, anxiety, bulimia |
Whole brain |
PET [123I]iomazenil |
NS VT | NA |
| (Lingford-Hughes et al., 2005) | 11 AUD 10 HC |
44.5 (1.8) 46.2 (2.6) |
11M/0F 10M/0F |
7.3 (5) mo | midazolam challenge; paroxetine or clomipramine |
MJ | Depress | ACC, OFC, Occip, Thai, Cerebel |
PET [11C]flumazeni I |
NS VT | NA |
| (Lingford-Hughes et al., 2012) | 8 AUD 11 HC |
44 (7) 43 (7) |
8M/0F 11M/0F |
33.4 (44.7) mo |
Fluoxetine | Nic, MJ | Depress | STR, ACC, Hipp, Ins, OFC |
PET [11C]Ro15 4513 |
↓ VT Striat, Hipp |
AD: ↑ VT Hipp & ACC, ↑ delayed recall |
| (Litton et al., 1993) | 5 AUD 5 HC |
37 25 |
5M/0F 5M/0F |
17 d | Detox, oxazepam |
Nic | NR | DLPFC/ MedPFC, Temp, Occip, Cerebel |
PET [11C]flumazeni I |
NS Bmax | NA |
| (Pennington et al., 2014) | 10 AUD 28 PTSD 20 HC |
51.9 (13.9) 35.4 (10.5) 36.3 (12.4) |
10M/0F 28M/0F 20M/0F |
NS | VA Medical Center (Unspec Tx) |
NR | AUD also had PTSD |
ACC Occip Temp |
MRS | NS GABA | AD: ↑ GABA corr ↑ verbal memory |
| Nicotine/Smoking | |||||||||||
| (Stokes et al., 2013) | 8 SM 12 HC |
48.4 (6.8) 46.4 (7.9) |
8M/0F 12M/0F |
NS | NR | MJ, Alc, Stim, MDMA |
NR | STR, Ins, ACC, pACC, Amyg, Hipp, ParHipp |
PET [11C]Ro15 4513 |
↑ VT pACC, ParHipp |
NS |
| (Epperson et al., 2005) | 16 SM 20 HC |
36.0 (16.0) 32.3 (5.9) (Approx) |
10M/6W 7M/13W |
0h, 48 h (within) |
NR | NR | NR | Occip | MRS | ↓GABA (women only) |
NS |
| Opiates | |||||||||||
| None | |||||||||||
| Cocaine | |||||||||||
| (Ke et al., 2004) | 35 CD 20 HC |
43.2 (7.4) 39.2 (8.0) |
26M/9F 7M/13F |
NS | NR | Alc | NR | pACC/ MedPFC |
MRS | ↓UGABA | GABA corr years Coc use (Unspec direction) |
| Methamphetamince | |||||||||||
| None | |||||||||||
| Cannabis | |||||||||||
| None | |||||||||||
| Multiple Substances | |||||||||||
| (Abe et al., 2013) | 28 AUD/PS 40 AD 16 HC |
45.3 (9.6) 52.1 (9.1) 49.0 (10.1) |
26M/2F 37M/3F 15M/1F |
~1 mo | Local VA Tx | Opiates, MJ, MDMA |
Hep C, type-2 diabetes, ↑BP, depress |
pACC, DLPFC, Occip |
MRS | AD/PS: ↓ pACC GABA (uncorrected) |
AD/PS: ↓ pACC GABA, ↑ verbal memory |
| (Cosgrove et al., 2014) | 17 AUD/SM 10 AUD 15 HC/SM 10 HC |
42 (11) 49 (9) 40 (9) 48 (10) |
15M/2F 7M/3F 13M/2F 8M/2F |
Alc: Abst Sm: Unspec |
Inpatient Tx | NR | Abnormal liver function (3x higher allowed) |
Whole brain |
PET [123I]iomazenil |
↑ GABAA VT (buffered by smoking) |
AD/SM: ↑ GABAAVT corr ↑ crave alc and cig |
| (Mason et al., 2006) | 12 AUD 8 HC |
39 (8.2) 39 (9.0) |
12M/0F 8M/0F |
5.0 (4.0) d | Inpatient Tx | MJ, Nic, Coc | NR | Occip | MRS | ↑ GABA (non-SM) |
NA |
| (Staley et al., 2005) | 15 AUD/SM 8 AUD 5 HC/SM 10 HC |
40.9 (8.1) 39.9 (8.6) 41.2 (9.2) 35.9 (7.5) |
15M/0F 8M/0F 5M/0F 10M/0F |
5.0 (2.9) d 4.6 (1.8) d -- -- |
1 mo Tx | Nic, Benzos | Abnormal liver function (3x higher allowed) |
MedPFC, ACC, Amyg, Hipp, Cerebel |
PET [123I]iomazenil (baseline &1 mo later) |
AD (short Abst): ↑ GABAA VT |
AD: ↑ MPF GABAA VT corr Alc Abst d |
Abbreviations, (p or d)ACC = (pregenual or dorsal) anterior cingulate cortex, Abst = abstinence, Alc = alcohol, AntiD = antidepressant medication, Approx = approximated values, AUD = alcohol use disorder, Amyg = amygdala, Amph = amphetamine, BG = basal ganglia, Benzos = benzodiazepines, BP = blood pressure, Bup = buprenorphine, Cereb = cerebral cortex, Coc = cocaine, corr = was correlated with, Cr = creatine, Depress = depression, Detox = detoxification program, F = females GM = gray matter, Glu = glutamate, Hipp = hippocampus, Ins = insula, MA = methamphetamine use disorder, M = males, Marij = marijuana, MDMA = ecstasy, Med = medial, Mid = middle, MJ = marijuana, mo = month, MRS = magnetic resonance spectroscopy, NA = not applicable, Nic = nicotine, NP = neuropsychological, NR = none reported, NS = not significant, Occip = occipital lobe, ParHipp = parahippocampal gyrus, Pariet = parietal cortex, PET = positron emission tomography, PFC = prefrontal cortex, Pos = posterior, PS = polysubstance users, R =right, SM = smoker, Stim = stimulants, STR = striatum, Subco = subcortical regions, Temp = temporal cortex, Thal = thalamus, Tx = treatment, Unspec = unspecified, wk = week