Tissue Parameter Mapping in Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

Background: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), which are caused by prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE), affects people around the world. Certain communities in South Africa have among the highest reported incidences of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) in the world. Although PAE-related brain alterations have been widely documented, the mechanisms whereby alcohol affects the brain are not clearly understood. MRI relaxation parameters T1, T2, T2* and proton density (PD), are basic tissue properties that reflect the underlying biology. The present study aims to advance our understanding of how PAE alters the microstructural properties of tissue by examining PAE-related changes in these tissue parameters in adolescents with FASD. Methods: The final sample used in this study consisted of 53 children from a previously studied longitudinal cohort (Jacobson et al., 2008) and 12 additionally recruited subjects. Of the 65 participants, 18 were diagnosed with FAS or partial FAS (PFAS) and made up the FAS/PFAS group, 18 were diagnosed as heavily exposed non-syndromal (HE) and 29 were age matched controls. Subjects were scanned at the Cape Universities Body Imaging Centre (CUBIC) located at Groote Schuur Hospital on a 3T Siemens Skyra MRI. Structural images were obtained using the MEMPRAGE sequence. From these images T1, T2, T2* and PD parameter maps were constructed and segmented into 43 regions of interest (ROI) using Freesurfer, FSL and AFNI. Linear regression analyses were used to analyse group differences as well as correlations between parameter values and the amount of alcohol the mother consumed during pregnancy. Results: Significant T1 differences were found in the caudate, cerebellar cortex, hippocampus, accumbens, putamen, choroid plexus, ventral diencephalon (DC), right vessel and ventricles. Significant T2 differences were found in the caudate, brain stem, corpus callosum (CC), amygdala, cerebral cortex, choroid plexus, vessels and ventricles. Significant T2* differences were found in the cerebellar cortex, optic chiasm and ventricles. Significant PD differences were found in the hippocampus and left lateral ventricle. The exploratory nature of this study resulted in none of the results surviving FDR correction for multiple comparisons. Conclusions: Overall, our findings point to regional PAE-related increases in water content and cellular and molecular changes in underlying tissue of the anatomical structure. Exceptions were the right cerebral cortex, brain stem, hippocampus, amygdala and ventral diencephalon where our findings point to less free water and increased cell density, and cerebellar cortex where simultaneous reductions in T1 and T2* suggest the possibility of increased iron content. In highly myelinated white matter structures, such as the CC and optic chiasm, our results point to PAErelated demyelination, and possibly increased iron. These findings extend previous knowledge of effects of PAE and demonstrate that tissues are affected at a microstructural level