Quantitative multivoxel proton MR spectroscopy study of brain metabolites in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment: a pilot study

• Published in: Neuroradiology 2012-05, Vol.54 (5), p.451-458
• Main Authors: Yang, Zhong-Xian, Huo, Shan-Shan, Cheng, Xiao-Fang, Xu, Zhi-Feng, Cao, Zhen, Zeng, Jie-Xia, Xiao, Ye-Yu, You, Ke-Zeng, Chen, Wei, Liu, Yan-Yan, Wu, Ren-Hua
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amnesia - metabolism; Aspartic Acid - analogs & derivatives; Aspartic Acid - metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; Brain; Brain Chemistry; Case-Control Studies; Choline; Choline - metabolism; Cognition & reasoning; Cognitive ability; Computer programs; Cortex (parietal); Creatine; Creatine - metabolism; Data processing; Diagnostic Neuroradiology; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human; Humans; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; Imaging; Inositol - metabolism; Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects); Learning. Memory; Lentiform nucleus; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Magnetic resonance spectroscopy; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy - methods; Male; Medical disorders; Medical imaging; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Memory; Metabolites; Middle Aged; N-Acetylaspartate; Nervous system; Neuroimaging; Neurology; Neuropsychological Tests; Neuroradiology; Neurosciences; Neurosurgery; Pilot Projects; Protons; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Radiodiagnosis. Nmr imagery. Nmr spectrometry; Radiology; software; Spectroscopy; Substantia alba; Thalamus
• ISSN: 0028-3940; 1432-1920
• DOI: 10.1007/s00234-011-0900-0

Introduction The purpose of this study is to investigate brain metabolic changes in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) using multivoxel proton MR spectroscopy ( 1 H-MVS). Methods Fourteen aMCI patients and fifteen healthy control subjects participated in this experiment. All MR measurements were acquired using a 1.5-T GE scanner. 1 H-MVS point resolved spectroscopy (2D PROBE-CSI PRESS) pulse sequence (TE = 35 ms; TR = 1,500 ms; phase × frequency, 18 × 18) was used for acquiring MRS data. All data were post-processed using Spectroscopy Analysis by General Electric software and linear combination of model (LCModel). The absolute concentrations of N -acetylaspartate (NAA), choline (Cho), myoinositol (MI), creatine (Cr), and the metabolite ratios of NAA/Cr, Cho/Cr, MI/Cr, and NAA/MI were measured bilaterally in the posterior cingulate gyrus (PCG), inferior precuneus (Pr), paratrigonal white matter (PWM), dorsal thalamus (DT), and lentiform nucleus (LN). Results Patients with aMCI displayed significantly lower NAA levels in the bilateral PCG ( p