Faculty Collaboration Database

Poorer frontolimbic white matter integrity is associated with chronic cannabis use, FAAH genotype, and increased depressive and apathy symptoms in adolescents and young adults. Neuroimage Clin 2015;8:117-25

Date

06/25/2015

Pubmed ID

26106535

Pubmed Central ID

PMC4473294

DOI

10.1016/j.nicl.2015.03.024

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-84927515356 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   49 Citations

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The heaviest period of cannabis use coincides with ongoing white matter (WM) maturation. Further, cannabis-related changes may be moderated by FAAH genotype (rs324420). We examined the association between cannabis use and FAAH genotype on frontolimbic WM integrity in adolescents and emerging adults. We then tested whether observed WM abnormalities were linked with depressive or apathy symptoms.

METHODS: Participants included 37 cannabis users and 37 healthy controls (33 female; ages 18-25). Multiple regressions examined the independent and interactive effects of variables on WM integrity.

RESULTS: Regular cannabis users demonstrated reduced WM integrity in the bilateral uncinate fasciculus (UNC) (MD, right: p = .009 and left: p = .009; FA, right: p = .04 and left: p = .03) and forceps minor (fMinor) (MD, p = .03) compared to healthy controls. Marginally reduced WM integrity in the cannabis users was found in the left anterior thalamic radiation (ATR) (FA, p = .08). Cannabis group ∗ FAAH genotype interaction predicted WM integrity in bilateral ATR (FA, right: p = .05 and left: p = .001) and fMinor (FA, p = .02). In cannabis users, poorer WM integrity was correlated with increased symptoms of depression and apathy in bilateral ATR and UNC.

CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with prior findings, cannabis use was associated with reduced frontolimbic WM integrity. WM integrity was also moderated by FAAH genotype, in that cannabis-using FAAH C/C carriers and A carrying controls had reduced WM integrity compared to control C/C carriers. Observed frontolimbic white matter abnormalities were linked with increased depressive and apathy symptoms in the cannabis users.

Author List

Shollenbarger SG, Price J, Wieser J, Lisdahl K

Author

Jenessa Price PhD Associate Professor in the Surgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adolescent
Adult
Amidohydrolases
Apathy
Cannabis
Depression
Female
Frontal Lobe
Genotype
Humans
Limbic System
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
White Matter
Young Adult