Selective micro-structural integrity impairment of the isthmus subregion of the corpus callosum in alcohol-dependent males

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have provided evidence that alcohol-dependent patients have abnormality in corpus callosum (CC); however, it is unclear whether micro-structural integrity of the CC subregions is differentially affected in this disorder. METHODS: In this study, a total of 39 male individuals, including 19 alcohol-dependent patients and 20 age-matched healthy controls, underwent diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). CC was reconstructed by DTI tractography and was divided into seven subregions. Multiple diffusion metrics of each subregion were compared between two groups. RESULTS: Compared to healthy controls, patients exhibited increased axial diffusivity (P = 0.007), radial diffusivity (P = 0.009) and mean diffusivity (P = 0.005) in the isthmus. In addition, we observed that daily alcohol intake was correlated positively with radial diffusivity and mean diffusivity and negatively with fractional anisotropy, while abstinence time of hospitalization was negatively correlated with mean diffusivity in the patients. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest a selective micro-structural integrity impairment of the corpus callosum subregions in alcohol dependence, characterized by axon and myelin alterations in the isthmus. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12888-019-2079-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.