ArticleBMJ open2022
Association between use of systemic and inhaled glucocorticoids and changes in brain volume and white matter microstructure: a cross-sectional study using data from the UK Biobank.
Article in BMJ open, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Early life adversity and white matter microstructural organization-a systematic review.Brain imaging and behavior · 2025Pooled it
- Neuropsychiatric Adverse Effects of Synthetic Glucocorticoids: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2024Pooled it
- Cognitive speed-accuracy dissociation in multiple myeloma: a cross‑sectional study.BMC neuroscience · 2026Article
- Depression and aging: insights from brain age prediction models.Psychological medicine · 2026Article
- Plant-derived bioactives, the gut-brain axis, and neurodegenerative diseases: mechanistic roles of diet-microbiota interactions.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
- High-Dose Pulse Glucocorticoid Treatment Prevents White Matter Spinal Cord Pseudoatrophy in Newly Diagnosed Multiple Sclerosis.Annals of neurology · 2025Article
- Understanding Duchenne muscular dystrophy-associated brain pathology.Disease models & mechanisms · 2025Review
- Effect of Corticosterone on Gene Expression in the Context of Global Hippocampal Transcription.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Volume and distribution of white matter hyperintensities in rheumatoid arthritis and ulcerative colitis patients.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Cognitive Impairment, Associated Clinical Factors, and MR Volumetric Measures in Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein-IgG-Associated Disease.Neurology(R) neuroimmunology & neuroinflammation · 2024Article
- Brainwide Mendelian Randomization Study of Anxiety Disorders and Symptoms.Biological psychiatry · 2024Article
- Steroid-induced mania in a patient with previously well-controlled organic bipolar 1-like affective disorder secondary to acquired brain injury: case report and literature review.Discover mental health · 2024Article
- Glucocorticoid effects on the brain: from adaptive developmental plasticity to allostatic overload.The Journal of experimental biology · 2024Review
- Article
- Comparison of two corticosteroid regimens on brain volumetrics in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2023Article
- Higher longitudinal brain white matter atrophy rate in aquaporin-4 IgG-positive NMOSD compared with healthy controls.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Oral Corticosteroid Abuse and Self-Prescription in Italy: A Perspective from Community Pharmacists and Sales Reports before and during the COVID-19 Era.Journal of personalized medicine · 2023Article
- Time-Updated Phenotypic Guidance of Corticosteroids and Antibiotics in COPD: Rationale, Perspective and a Proposed Method.Biomedicines · 2023Review
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo test the hypothesis that systemic and inhaled glucocorticoid use is associated with changes in grey matter volume (GMV) and white matter microstructure.
designCross-sectional study.
settingUK Biobank, a prospective population-based cohort study of adults recruited in the UK between 2006 and 2010.
participantsAfter exclusion based on neurological, psychiatric or endocrinological history, and use of psychotropic medication, 222 systemic glucocorticoid users, 557 inhaled glucocorticoid users and 24 106 controls with available T1 and diffusion MRI data were included.
main outcome measuresPrimary outcomes were differences in 22 volumetric and 14 diffusion imaging parameters between glucocorticoid users and controls, determined using linear regression analyses adjusted for potential confounders. Secondary outcomes included cognitive functioning (six tests) and emotional symptoms (four questions).
resultsBoth systemic and inhaled glucocorticoid use were associated with reduced white matter integrity (lower fractional anisotropy (FA) and higher mean diffusivity (MD)) compared with controls, with larger effect sizes in systemic users (FA: adjusted mean difference (AMD)=-3.7e-3, 95% CI=-6.4e-3 to 1.0e-3; MD: AMD=7.2e-6, 95% CI=3.2e-6 to 1.1e-5) than inhaled users (FA: AMD=-2.3e-3, 95% CI=-4.0e-3 to -5.7e-4; MD: AMD=2.7e-6, 95% CI=1.7e-7 to 5.2e-6). Systemic use was also associated with larger caudate GMV (AMD=178.7 mm
conclusionsBoth systemic and inhaled glucocorticoid use are associated with decreased white matter integrity and limited changes in GMV. This association may contribute to the neuropsychiatric side effects of glucocorticoid medication, especially with chronic use.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.