Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38980335›Full record

ArticleEuropean archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience2025

Impairment of the GABAergic system in the anterior insular cortex of heroin-addicted males.

Anna Gos, Johann Steiner, Kurt Trübner, Christian Mawrin, Michał Kaliszan, Tomasz Gos

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Impairment of the GABAergic system in the prefrontal cortex of male heroin addicts.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2026
    Article
  2. Review
  3. Impairment of the GABAergic system in the anterior midcingulate cortex of heroin-addicted males.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2025
    Article
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

6 authors.

Anna GosDepartment of Adult Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland.
Johann SteinerDepartment of Psychiatry, Otto von Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany.
Kurt TrübnerInstitute of Legal Medicine, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
Christian MawrinDepartment of Neuropathology, Otto von Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany.
Michał KaliszanDepartment of Forensic Medicine, Medical University of Gdańsk, Ul. Dębowa 23, 80-204, Gdańsk, Poland.
Tomasz GosDepartment of Psychiatry, Otto von Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany. gost@gumed.edu.pl.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0161-9270

Funding

Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung 01ZZ0407Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung BMBF NBL-3/2Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Wirtschaft, Land Sachsen-Anhalt N2-OVGUMinisterium für Wissenschaft und Wirtschaft, Land Sachsen-Anhalt XN3594O/0405M
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Opioid addiction is a global problem, causing the greatest health burden among drug use disorders, with opioid overdose deaths topping the statistics of fatal overdoses. The multifunctional anterior insular cortex (AIC) is involved in inhibitory control, which is severely impaired in opioid addiction. GABAergic interneurons shape the output of the AIC, where abnormalities have been reported in individuals addicted to opioids. In these neurons, glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) with its isoforms GAD 65 and 67 is a key enzyme in the synthesis of GABA, and research data point to a dysregulation of GABAergic activity in the AIC in opioid addiction. Our study, which was performed on paraffin-embedded brains from the Magdeburg Brain Bank, aimed to investigate abnormalities in the GABAergic function of the AIC in opioid addiction by densitometric evaluation of GAD 65/67-immunostained neuropil. The study showed bilaterally increased neuropil density in layers III and V in 13 male heroin-addicted males compared to 12 healthy controls, with significant U-test P values for layer V bilaterally. Analysis of confounding variables showed that age, brain volume and duration of formalin fixation did not confound the results. Our findings suggest a dysregulation of GABAergic activity in the AIC in opioid addiction, which is consistent with experimental data from animal models and human neuroimaging studies.

Indexed as

GABAergic Neuronsgamma-Aminobutyric AcidHeroin DependenceInsular CortexAdultGlutamate DecarboxylaseHumansMaleMiddle Agedgamma-Aminobutyric AcidGlutamate Decarboxylaseglutamate decarboxylase 1glutamate decarboxylase 2Anterior insular cortexGAD 65/67 immunostainingHeroin addiction

Identifiers

PMID38980335
PMCPMC11799008

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.