Multimodal imaging is increasingly used to address neuropathology associated with alcohol use disorder (AUD). Few studies have investigated relationships between metabolite concentrations and white matter (WM) integrity; currently, there are no such data in AUD. In this preliminary study, we used complementary neuroimaging techniques, magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI), to study AUD neurophysiology. We tested for relationships between metabolites in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and adjacent WM microstructure in young adult AUD and control (CON) subjects. Sixteen AUD and fourteen CON underwent whole-brain DWI and MRS of the dACC. Outcomes were dACC metabolites, and diffusion tensor metrics of dACC-adjacent WM. Multiple linear regression terms included WM region, group, and region × group for prediction of dACC metabolites. dACC myo-inositol was positively correlated with axial diffusivity in the left anterior corona radiata (p < 0.0001) in CON but not AUD (group effect: p < 0.001; region × group: p < 0.001; Bonferroni-corrected). In the bilateral anterior corona radiata and right genu of the corpus callosum, glutamate was negatively related to mean diffusivity in AUD, but not CON subjects (all model terms: p < 0.05, uncorrected). In AUD subjects, dACC glutamate was negatively correlated with AUD symptom severity. This is likely the first integrative study of cortical metabolites and WM integrity in young individuals with AUD. Differential relationships between dACC metabolites and adjacent WM tract integrity in AUD could represent early consequences of hazardous drinking, and/or novel biomarkers of early-stage AUD. Additional studies are required to replicate these findings, and to determine the behavioral relevance of these results.

多模态成像越来越多地用于解决与酒精使用障碍 (AUD) 相关的神经病理学。很少有研究调查代谢物浓度与白质 (WM) 完整性之间的关系；目前，澳元没有此类数据。在这项初步研究中，我们使用互补神经成像技术、磁共振波谱 (MRS) 和扩散加权成像 (DWI) 来研究 AUD 神经生理学。我们测试了年轻成人 AUD 和对照 (CON) 受试者背侧前扣带皮层 (dACC) 中的代谢物与相邻的 WM 微观结构之间的关系。16 个 AUD 和 14 个 CON 接受了 dACC 的全脑 DWI 和 MRS。结果是 dACC 代谢物和 dACC 相邻 WM 的扩散张量指标。多元线性回归项包括 WM 区域、组、和区域×组用于预测 dACC 代谢物。dACC 肌醇与左前放射冠的轴向扩散率呈正相关（p  < 0.0001）在 CON 但不是 AUD（组效应：p  < 0.001；区域 × 组：p  < 0.001；Bonferroni 校正）。在双侧前放射冠和胼胝体右膝中，谷氨酸与 AUD 的平均扩散率负相关，但与 CON 受试者无关（所有模型术语：p < 0.05，未校正）。在 AUD 受试者中，dACC 谷氨酸与 AUD 症状严重程度呈负相关。这可能是第一个对 AUD 年轻人的皮质代谢物和 WM 完整性的综合研究。AUD 中 dACC 代谢物与相邻 WM 道完整性之间的差异关系可能代表危险饮酒的早期后果，和/或早期 AUD 的新生物标志物。需要更多的研究来复制这些发现，并确定这些结果的行为相关性。