Poster No:
1272
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Eileen Luders1, Debra Spencer2, Caitlin Dale1, Melissa Hines2, Florian Kurth1
Institutions:
1University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand, 2University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
First Author:
Co-Author(s):
Introduction:
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is a genetic variant that causes high levels of androgens during gestation in females, whereas levels in males are largely normal. Only little is known about the brain in CAH, and no study has specifically focused on the corpus callosum.
Methods:
Here we compared callosal area measures between 53 individuals with CAH and 53 control participants, who were pair-wise matched with respect to sex (33 women/20 men) and age (mean±SD: 30.2±7.8 years). The corpus callosum was manually outlined on T1-weighted brain images, obtained on a 3 Tesla scanner, and divided into seven sections according to the Witelson scheme (i.e., rostrum, genu, rostral body, anterior midbody, posterior midbody, isthmus, and splenium). The midsagittal callosal areas were compared using a two-way ANOVA, while co-varying for age and total brain volume.
Results:
Neither the main effect of biological sex (women vs. men) nor the group-by-sex interaction was significant. In contrast, there was a significant main effect of group (CAH vs. controls) for some callosal areas. More specifically, women/men with CAH had significantly smaller callosal areas than control women/men within the isthmus (p=0.0024) and splenium (p=0.0048), both effects surviving Bonferroni corrections for multiple comparisons. In addition, there was a trend for a smaller posterior midbody in women/men with CAH compared to control women/men (p=0.0586).
Conclusions:
Given the lack of significant group-by-sex interactions (CAH-related effects were present in both sexes) it is likely that callosal abnormalities do not manifest as effects of prenatal androgens (otherwise effects would be restricted to women). Instead, they may reflect aspects of the disease and/or effects of treatment as both women and men with CAH receive supplements of glucocorticoids. The latter seems especially noteworthy because glucocorticoids are applied in a wide range of medical conditions, and possible adverse effects on the human brain may not be restricted to CAH.
Lifespan Development:
Lifespan Development Other 1
Neuroanatomy, Physiology, Metabolism and Neurotransmission:
White Matter Anatomy, Fiber Pathways and Connectivity 2
Keywords:
Computational Neuroscience
White Matter
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
Provide references using author date format
n/a