Reduced habenular volumes and neuron numbers in male heroin addicts: a post-mortem study
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Reduced habenular volumes and neuron numbers in male heroin addicts: a post‑mortem study Ulf J. Müller1,2,3 · Moritz Ahrens1,2 · Veronika Vasilevska1,2 · Henrik Dobrowolny1,2 · Kolja Schiltz1,2,4,5 · Konstantin Schlaaff1,2 · Christian Mawrin4,6 · Thomas Frodl1,4 · Bernhard Bogerts1,2,4,7 · Tomasz Gos1,2,8 · Kurt Truebner9 · Hans‑Gert Bernstein1,2 · Johann Steiner1,2,4 Received: 6 June 2020 / Accepted: 17 September 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The Habenula is increasingly being investigated in addiction. Reduced volumes of other relevant brain regions in addiction, such as nucleus accumbens, globus pallidus and hypothalamus have been reported. Reduced volumes of the habenula as well as reduced neuronal cell count in the habenula have also been reported in mood disorders and an overlap between mood disorders and addiction is clinically widely recognized. Thus, our aim was to investigate possible volume and neuronal cell count differences in heroin addicts compared to healthy controls. Volumes of the medial (MHB) and lateral habenula (LHB) in heroin addicts (n = 12) and healthy controls (n = 12) were assessed by morphometry of 20 µm serial whole brain sections. Total brain volume was larger in the heroin group (mean 1466.6 ± 58.5 c m3 vs. mean 1331.5 ± 98.8 c m3), possibly because the heroin group was about 15 years younger (p = 0.001). Despite larger mean whole brain volume, the mean relative volume of the MHB was smaller than in healthy non-addicted controls (6.94 ± 2.38 × 10–6 vs.10.64 ± 3.22 × 10−6; p = 0.004). A similar finding was observed regarding relative volumes of the LHB (46.62 ± 10.90 × 10−6 vs. 63.05 ± 16.42 × 10−6 p = 0.009). In parallel, neuronal cell numbers were reduced in the MHB of heroin-addicted subjects (395,966 ± 184,178 vs. 644,149 ± 131,140; p
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