Brain development after intrauterine exposure to lithium: A magnetic resonance imaging study in school-age children.
Bipolar Disord
; 25(3): 181-190, 2023 05.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36633504
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
Lithium is often continued during pregnancy to reduce the risk of perinatal mood episodes for women with bipolar disorder. However, little is known about the effect of intrauterine lithium exposure on brain development. The aim of this study was to investigate brain structure in children after intrauterine exposure to lithium.METHODS:
Participants were offspring, aged 8-14 years, of women with a diagnosis of bipolar spectrum disorder. In total, 63 children participated in the study 30 with and 33 without intrauterine exposure to lithium. Global brain volume outcomes and white matter integrity were assessed using structural MRI and diffusion tensor imaging, respectively. Primary outcomes were total brain, cortical and subcortical gray matter, cortical white matter, lateral ventricles, cerebellum, hippocampus and amygdala volumes, cortical thickness, cortical surface area and global fractional anisotropy, and mean diffusivity. To assess how our data compared to the general population, global brain volumes were compared to data from the Generation R study (N = 3243).RESULTS:
In our primary analyses, we found no statistically significant associations between intrauterine exposure to lithium and structural brain measures. There was a non-significant trend toward reduced subcortical gray matter volume. Compared to the general population, lithium-exposed children showed reduced subcortical gray and cortical white matter volumes.CONCLUSION:
We found no differences in brain structure between lithium-exposed and non-lithium-exposed children aged 8-14 years following correction for multiple testing. While a rare population to study, future and likely multi-site studies with larger datasets are required to validate and extend these initial findings.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Transtorno Bipolar
/
Substância Branca
Limite:
Child
/
Female
/
Humans
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Pregnancy
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Bipolar Disord
Assunto da revista:
PSIQUIATRIA
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Holanda