Lower Choline Rate in the Left Prefrontal Cortex Is Associated With Higher Amount of Alcohol Use in Alcohol Use Disorder

Abstract

Excessive and long-term alcohol consumption produce metabolic changes, such as of choline, in many brain regions in alcohol use disorder (AUD) and in non-AUD subjects as well. This study examined the association of choline proportion in the prefrontal cortex with pattern of alcohol use in AUD patients. The choline metabolite was acquired through a single voxel Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (¹H MRS). Between-groups comparison corrected by age showed that the ratio of Choline/Creatine (Cho/Cr) was significantly smaller (p = 0.005) in the Left Prefrontal (LPF) of AUD patients when compared to paired non-AUD subjects. A multiple regression analysis corrected by age showed that decreasing ratios of Cho/Cr in the LPF was associated with increasing amount of alcohol consumption in drinks per day (p < 0.01) in AUD patients. Rates of Cho/Cr in the LPF was inversely related to amounts of alcohol consumption possibly indicating the severity of the AUD. Thus, low proportion of Cho/Cr in the LPF could indicate more severe AUD (higher alcohol intake).

Keywords: 1H MRS; alcohol intake; alcohol use disorder; choline; prefrontal.

Figure 1

Spectrograms of one patient diagnosed with Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) and one non-AUD subject in voxels places in the left (LPF) and right (RPF) prefrontal regions (A); relative concentrations of Choline (Cho)/creatine (Cr)] measured in voxels placed in the LPF and RPF of AUD patients (n = 17) and non-AUD controls (n = 22). **p < 0.01 compared to controls (MANOVA corrected by age with Bonferroni's correction for multiple comparisons) (B); Cho/Cr measured in voxels placed in the LPF in AUD patients related to the amount of alcohol use (drinks/day) (C) **p < 0.001 (Multiple Linear Regression Analysis corrected by age).