ArticleAlcoholism, clinical and experimental research2021
Exploring relationships between alcohol consumption, inflammation, and brain structure in a heavy drinking sample.
Article in Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Examining alcohol use disorder recovery definitions and demographic reporting in studies of structural brain recovery: an updated systematic review and extension.Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire) · 2026Pooled it
- Longitudinal Study of Plasma NFL and GFAP as Biomarkers of Alcohol Withdrawal-Associated Brain Injury.Addiction biology · 2026Observational
- MAO-B status in alcohol use disorder: a [Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Neurotoxic biomarkers of ethanol exposure: from adolescent vulnerability to adult voluntary intake in rats of both sexes.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Alcohol Consumption and Autoimmune Diseases.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- IL17RB genetic variants are associated with acamprosate treatment response in patients with alcohol use disorder: A proteomics-informed genomics study.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2024Observational
- Introducing neurofilament light chain measure in psychiatry: current evidence, opportunities, and pitfalls.Molecular psychiatry · 2024Review
- Evaluating signs of hippocampal neurotoxicity induced by a revisited paradigm of voluntary ethanol consumption in adult male and female Sprague-Dawley rats.Pharmacological reports : PR · 2023Article
- Plasma Concentrations of Neurofilament Light Chain Protein and Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor as Consistent Biomarkers of Cognitive Impairment in Alcohol Use Disorder.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Plasma neurofilament light chain protein is not increased in forensic psychiatric populations: a pilot study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Effects of white matter lesion grading on the cognitive function of patients with chronic alcohol dependence.American journal of translational research · 2023Article
- Plasma TNFSF10 levels associated with acamprosate treatment response in patients with alcohol use disorder.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundChronic alcohol consumption is associated with structural brain changes and increased inflammatory signaling throughout the brain and body. Increased inflammation in the brain has been associated with structural damage. Recent studies have also shown that neurofilament light polypeptide (NfL) is released into the systemic circulation following neuronal damage. Although NfL has thus been proposed as a biomarker for neurodegenerative diseases, its connection to alcohol use disorder has not been explored. For this secondary data analysis, we proposed a conceptual model linking alcohol consumption, the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6, brain structure, and NfL in heavy drinking participants.
methodsOf the 182 individuals enrolled in this study, 81 participants had usable data on gray matter (GM) thickness and 80 had usable data on white matter (WM) diffusivity. A subset of participants had NfL (n = 78) and IL-6 (n = 117) data. An estimate of GM thickness was extracted from middle frontal brain regions using FreeSurfer. Estimated mean WM diffusivity values were extracted from Tract Based Spatial Statistics. NfL and IL-6 were measured in blood. Regression models were used to test individual linkages in the conceptual model. Based on significant regression results, we created a simplified conceptual model, which we tested using path analysis.
resultsIn regressions, negative relationships emerged between GM and both drinks per drinking day (DPDD) (p = 0.018) and NfL (p = 0.004). A positive relationship emerged between WM diffusivity and DPDD (p = 0.033). IL-6 was not significantly associated with alcohol use, GM or WM. The final path model demonstrated adequate fit to the data and showed significant, negative associations between DPDD and middle frontal gyrus (MFG) thickness, and between MFG thickness and NfL, but the association between DPDD and NfL was not significant.
conclusionsThis is the first study to show that heavy drinking is associated with lower GM thickness and higher WM diffusivity and that lower GM thickness is associated with higher circulating NfL. The analyses also show that the effects of drinking do not involve the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6.
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Registered trials
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