Decreased corpus callosum size among alcoholic women
D. Hommer, R. Momenan, R. Rawlings, P. Ragan, W. Williams, D. Rio and M. Eckardt
Laboratory of Clinical Studies, Division of Intramural Clinical and Biological Research, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
BACKGROUND: Although females appear to be more sensitive to the hepatic
consequences of alcoholism, it is not clear if women are more sensitive to
the effects of excessive alcohol consumption on the brain than men.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We compared the cross-sectional area of the corpus
callosum in a group of 14 hospitalized alcoholic women and 13 hospitalized
alcoholic men with a group of nine nonalcoholic women and 10 nonalcoholic
men. All subjects were between the ages of 30 and 50 years. The
cross-sectional areas of the corpus callosum and the inner table of the
skull were measured on midsagittal T1-weighted magnetic resonance images.
RESULTS: Females had smaller intracranial areas than males, but there was
no difference in intracranial area between the alcoholics and
nonalcoholics. The corpus callosum area was significantly smaller among the
alcoholic women compared with either the control women or the alcoholic
men. Alcoholic men did not differ from control men in the corpus callosum
area. These results did not change when the corpus callosum area was
adjusted for intracranial area by analysis of covariance. When the corpus
callosum was divided into four segments of equal length, the reduction in
area was not localized to any particular region. CONCLUSION: These results
suggest an increased sensitivity to alcohol-induced brain damage among
alcoholic women compared with alcoholic men.
