Disturbances of Cerebral Metabolism of Aspartate, Glutamate, and N-Acetylaspartate after Traumatic Brain Injury According to 1H Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

• Published in: Biophysics (Oxford) 2018-11, Vol.63 (6), p.975-980
• Main Authors: Menshchikov, P. E., Semenova, N. A., Manzhurtsev, A. V., Melnikov, I. A., Ublinskii, M. V., Akhadov, T. A., Varfolomeev, S. D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biological and Medical Physics; Biophysics; Complex Systems Biophysics; Physics; Physics and Astronomy
• ISSN: 0006-3509; 1555-6654
• DOI: 10.1134/S0006350918060209

Cerebral concentrations of N-acetylaspartate, aspartate, and glutamate were determined for the first time simultaneously in patients with severe traumatic brain injury in the remote period using J-modulated editing of 1 H magnetic resonance spectra in vivo. It has been shown that the N-acetylaspartate and aspartate concentrations in the frontal lobes of the brain were significantly reduced (by 65 and 61%, respectively) with a constant concentration of glutamate in the remote period after severe brain injury. Our findings indicate that a decrease in the N-acetylaspartate concentration in the delayed period after brain injury is caused by a decrease in the concentration of aspartate, a precursor of the synthesis of N-acetylaspartate. The decrease in the aspartate level with a constant level of glutamate is a consequence of the dysfunction of one of the most important metabolism regulation systems, namely, the malate–aspartate shuttle.