Associations between childhood abuse, reductions of white matter integrity of the corpus callosum and white-matter hyperintensities, and the role of tobacco and alcohol use

Abstract

Objective. Childhood Abuse (CA) is a devastating experience early in life, which can have major consequences and increases the risk of psychiatric disorders in adulthood. It is suggested that CA counteracts a normal development of the Corpus Callosum (CC), which in turn could reflect an impaired integrity of White Matter (WM). It might be that long-term neurobiological alterations of WM integrity and volume, caused by CA, eventually reflect in the onset of White-Matter Hyperintensities (WMH) later in life, but literature about this relationship is lacking. WMH are of major concern because they can cause a range of negative consequences and even increase the risk of death. Yet, the etiology and causes of WMH are not completely understood. The present study aims to investigate the effect of CA on WM integrity within the CC and the onset of WMH later in life, and to investigate other risk factors of WMH (tobacco and alcohol use). Methods. Study 1 presents a meta-analysis (N = 16) concerning WM impairments within the CC among individuals with a history of CA. Study 2 presents a cross-sectional study where WMH volumes of individuals with manifest arterial disease (N = 679) are compared upon a history of CA, smoking status and alcohol intake. Results. CA strongly associates with WM impairments within the CC (Study 1). Only currently smoking significantly increases WMH volumes (Study 2). Conclusions. CA is strongly associated with reductions of WM integrity and volume, but not with WMH. For the onset of WMH, other factors emerged more important, such as increasing age, physical health (manifest arterial disease) and life-style factors (currently smoking). Further research should investigate the possible moderating influence of tobacco and alcohol use (and other unhealthy life-style factors) on the associations between CA and reductions of WM integrity, and CA and WMH.