Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27311608›Full record

ArticleMetabolic brain disease2016

Reduced glutamate in white matter of male neonates exposed to alcohol in utero: a (1)H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy study.

F M Howells, K A Donald, A Roos, R P Woods, H J Zar, K L Narr, D J Stein

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In one paragraph

Article in Metabolic brain disease, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.6field-weighted citation impact, top 9% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

F M HowellsDepartment of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. howellsfleur@gmail.com.
K A DonaldDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health, Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital and University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
A RoosMedical Research Council Anxiety and Stress Disorders Unit, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
R P WoodsDepartments of Neurology and of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
H J ZarDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health, Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital and University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
K L NarrDepartments of Neurology and of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
D J SteinDepartment of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
University of Cape Town · ZANeurobehavioral Systems · USRed Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital · ZAStellenbosch University · ZAUniversity of California, Los Angeles · US

Funding

Biomarkers of fast acting therapies in major depressionK24MH102743 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI NARR, KATHERINE L · 2014 to 2018
$889k
NIMH NIH HHS K24 MH102743
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In utero exposure to alcohol leads to a spectrum of fetal alcohol related disorders (FASD). However, few studies used have used proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS) to understand how neurochemical disturbances relate to the pathophysiology of FASD. Further, no studies to date have assessed brain metabolites in infants exposed to alcohol in utero. We hypothesize that neonates exposed to alcohol in utero will show decreased glutamatergic activity, pre-emptive of their clinical diagnosis or behavioural phenotype. Single voxel (1)H-MRS data, sampled in parietal white and gray matter, were acquired from 36 neonates exposed to alcohol in utero, and 31 control unexposed healthy neonates, in their 2nd-4th week of life. Metabolites relative to creatine with phosophocreatine and metabolites absolute concentrations using a water reference are reported. Male infants exposed to alcohol in utero were found to have reduced concentration of glutamate with glutamine (Glx) in their parietal white matter (PWM), compared to healthy male infants (p = 0.02). Further, male infants exposed to alcohol in utero had reduced concentration and ratio for glutamate (Glu) in their PWM (p = 0.02), compared to healthy male infants and female infants exposed to alcohol in utero. Female infants showed higher relative Glx and Glu ratios for parietal gray matter (PGM, p < 0.01), compared to male infants. We speculate that the decreased Glx and Glu concentrations in PWM are a result of delayed oligodendrocyte maturation, which may be a result of dysfunctional thyroid hormone activity in males exposed to alcohol in utero. Further study is required to elucidate the relationship between Glx and Glu, thyroid hormone activity, and oligodendrocyte maturation in infants exposure to alcohol in utero.

Indexed as

Sex CharacteristicsAlcohol DrinkingCohort StudiesFemaleGlutamic AcidHumansInfant, NewbornMagnetic Resonance SpectroscopyMalePregnancyPrenatal Exposure Delayed EffectsProtonsWhite MatterGlutamic AcidProtonsAlcohol exposureGray matterMRSOligodendrocytesThyroid hormone

Identifiers

PMID27311608
PMCPMC6465962
OpenAlexW2430153269

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.