Year: 2023
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Incidence of opioid-related overdoses in the United States has increased dramatically over the past two decades. Despite public emphasis on overdose fatalities, most overdose cases are not fatal. Although there are case reports of amnestic syndromes and acute injury to the hippocampus following non-fatal opioid overdose, the effects of such overdoses on brain structure are poorly understood. Here, we investigated the neuroanatomical correlates of non-fatal opioid overdoses by comparing hippocampal volume in opioid use disorder (OUD) patients who had experienced an opioid overdose (OD; N = 17) with those who had not (NOD; N = 32). Voxel-based morphometry showed lower hippocampal volume in the OD group than in the NOD group, which on post hoc analysis was evident in the left but not the right hippocampus. These findings strengthen the evidence that hippocampal injury is associated with non-fatal opioid overdose, which is hypothesized to underlie overdose-related amnestic syndrome.
Source: Addiction Biology
DOI: 10.1111/adb.13336
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,170
Funders: Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, Brain Research Foundation, Commonwealth Fund, National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse
OpenAlex ID: W4386897347