A voxel-based diffusion kurtosis imaging study of whole-brain in alcohol dependent patients

Objective: To study the changes of micro structure of white matter and gray matter in alcohol dependent patients by using diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) based on the method of voxel-based analysis. Methods: Thirty alcohol dependent individuals and twenty healthy control volunteers, matched in gender, age, handedness and education, were enrolled as the alcohol dependent group and control group from September 2016 to June 2017. Michigan alcoholism screening test (MAST) was done for all subjects. All the subjects underwent DKI data acquisition by MR scanning. The relevant parameters were obtained by DKE software, including fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD), radial diffusivity (RD), mean kurtosis (MK), axial kurtosis (AK), radial kurtosis (RK), FA of kurtosis(FAK). Independent sample t test was performed to evaluate the significant difference of DKI parameters of two groups, meanwhile, the correlation analysis was conducted in DKI parameter values of different brain regions and MAST scores. Results Compared with the healthy control group, the FA value, MK value and RK value were decreased while the RD value was increased in alcohol dependence group, and there was significant difference between the two groups respectively (P < 0.001). There was no significant difference between the two groups in the other parameters (AD, MD, AK, FAK). Compared with the healthy control group, the FA values of left lingual gyrus (164 voxels, t = -5.582) and left hippocampus (38 voxels, t = -3.664) increased; the MK value of left cerebellum posterior lobe (71 voxels, t = -4.004) reduced; the RK value of left cerebellum posterior lobe (67 voxels, t = -4.174), left middle cingulum (32 voxels, t = -3.925), left superior parietal gyrus (36 voxels, t = -3.812) reduced;and the RD value of the left inferior parietal gyrus (31 voxels, t = 3.731) increased in alcohol dependence group. There was no correlation between MAST score and the value of DKI parameters. Conclusions: There are dominant areas of brain injury in patients with alcohol dependence. The DKI parameters can reflect the changes of the whole brain microstructure of alcohol dependent patients and provide imaging basis in the diagnosis of alcohol dependence. (authors)