6月11日，长沙中南大学湘雅二医院发布新闻稿称，该院在国际上首次发现了慢性氯胺酮(俗称K粉)成瘾者的脑结构损害。此研究为揭示K粉成瘾病理机制提供了宝贵线索，将为K粉成瘾的治疗开辟新的途径。
据介绍，该院精神卫生研究所研究人员采用最新脑影像学技术，对慢性K粉成瘾者进行了脑结构和脑功能活动改变研究，最终发现了K粉成瘾者前额叶脑白质、脑灰质的损害，其结构损害与精神分裂症患者的脑结构损害极为相似。
英国皇家医学院院士Trevor Robbins教授、剑桥大学Paul Fletcher教授等人对此研究给予了高度评价，认为其“在国际上首次对氯胺酮依赖者进行了系统的脑结构和脑功能活动研究，具有开创性意义”。
据悉，该院关于脑白质改变的研究论文已于6月2日在神经科学领域的国际顶尖杂志之一Brain(IF：9.603 最新影响因子查询)发表；关于脑灰质改变的研究论文已获邀参加即将在英国举办的British Association for Psychopharmacology (BAP)会议，并做专题发言和壁报交流。
过去十年间，氯胺酮作为娱乐性成瘾物质的使用率迅速增加，已成为青少年群体中最为常用的新型毒品之一，严重危害青少年的身心健康。K粉成瘾者脑结构损害的发现有可能给K粉成瘾者的治疗带来福音。
推荐原文出处：
Brain doi:10.1093/brain/awq131
Frontal white matter abnormalities following chronic ketamine use: a diffusion tensor imaging study
Yanhui Liao1,*, Jinsong Tang1,*, Mingdong Ma2, Zhimei Wu3, Mei Yang3, Xuyi Wang1, Tieqiao Liu1, Xiaogang Chen1, Paul C. Fletcher4 and Wei Hao1
1 Mental Health Institute, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, 139 Renmin (M) Road, Changsha, Hunan, 410011, People's Republic of China 2 Kangda Voluntary Drug Rehabilitation Centre, 280 Chengnan Road, Changsha, Hunan, 410007, People's Republic of China 3 Department of Addiction Medicine, Hunan Brain Hospital, 94 Chiling Road, Changsha, Hunan, 410011, People's Republic of China 4 University of Cambridge, Department of Psychiatry, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Hills Road,Cambridge, CB2 2QQ, UK
Ketamine abuse has been shown to have a deleterious impact on brain function. However, the precise mechanisms of ketamine dependence-induced pathological change remain poorly understood. Although there is evidence for white matter changes in drug abuse, the presence of white matter abnormalities in chronic ketamine users has not been studied. White matter volumes were measured using in vivo diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging data in 41 ketamine-dependent subjects and 44 drug-free healthy volunteers. White matter changes associated with chronic ketamine use were found in bilateral frontal and left temporoparietal cortices. There was also evidence that frontal white matter fractional anisotropy correlated with the severity of drug use (as measured by estimated total ketamine consumption). We provide direct evidence for dose-dependent abnormalities of white matter in bilateral frontal and left temporoparietal regions following chronic ketamine use. The findings suggest a microstructural basis for the changes in cognition and experience observed with prolonged ketamine use. Moreover, the similarities of these changes to those observed in chronic schizophrenia have implications for the glutamate model of this illness.
