Table 2.
Summarised confounding variables of heroin addicts (n = 11) and control subjects (n = 11)
| A Intergroup comparisons | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BV [cm3] | Age [years] | PMI [hours] | Fixation [days] | |
| Heroin addicts: median (q, q3) | 1475 (1427, 1543) | 31 (25, 33) | 30 (16, 49) | 2922 (2185, 3815) |
| Controls: median (q1, q3) | 1354 (1263, 1398) | 46 (39, 54) | 24 (24, 44) | 240 (179, 330) |
| Statistics: | ||||
| Test | U | U | U | U |
| Characteristic value | Z = − 3.021 | Z = 2.922 | Z = 0.263 | Z = − 3.697 |
| P value | 0.0014 | 0.0019 | 0.797 | 0.00002 |
| B Correlation analysis between numerical confounding variables listed above and AgNOR area in nucleus accumbens (NAc) and caudate nucleus (Cd) medium spiny neurons | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROI | Group | BV | Age | PMI | Fixation |
| NAc right | H r/P | − 0.30/0.37 | − 0.03/0.93 | 0.30/0.37 | − 0.53/0.12 |
| C r/P | − 0.36/0.28 | − 0.22/0.51 | 0.47/0.15 | 0.63/0.04 | |
| NAc left | H r/P | 0.16/0.64 | − 0.03/0.93 | − 0.02/0.96 | 0.04/0.91 |
| C r/P | 0.39/0.24 | − 0.37/0.26 | 0.39/0.24 | 0.61/0.05 | |
| Cd right | H r/P | − 0.31/0.36 | − 0.23/0.50 | − 0.39/0.23 | − 0.50/0.14 |
| C r/P | − 0.23/0.49 | − 0.21/0.55 | 0.36/0.27 | 0.24/0.48 | |
| Cd left | H r/P | − 0.35/0.29 | − 0.38/0.26 | − 0.41/0.21 | − 0.50/0.14 |
| C r/P | − 0.54/0.08 | − 0.14/0.68 | 0.67/0.03 | 0.51/0.11 | |
q1 and q3 quartile 1 and 3, BV brain volume, PMI postmortem interval, Fixation fixation time, ROI region of interest, H heroin addicts, C controls, r correlation coefficient and P P value of the Spearman’s correlation (significant values are in bold)