Effects of age and sex on the concentrations of glutamate and glutamine in the human brain

• Published in: Journal of magnetic resonance imaging 2013-12, Vol.38 (6), p.1480-1487
• Main Authors: Hädel, Sven, Wirth, Christoph, Rapp, Michael, Gallinat, Jürgen, Schubert, Florian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; age; Aging - metabolism; Aspartic Acid - analogs & derivatives; Aspartic Acid - metabolism; brain metabolites; Choline - metabolism; Female; glutamate; Glutamic Acid - metabolism; glutamine; Glutamine - metabolism; Gyrus Cinguli - metabolism; Hippocampus - metabolism; Humans; Magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; magnetic resonance spectroscopy; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy - methods; Male; Neurotransmitter Agents - metabolism; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; sex; Sex Factors; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1053-1807; 1522-2586
• DOI: 10.1002/jmri.24123

Purpose To determine the effects of age and sex on cerebral glutamate and glutamine concentrations in a large sample of healthy humans using a dedicated measuring and evaluation procedure. Exploratory examinations of other brain metabolites were also conducted. Materials and Methods In 118 healthy subjects aged 19 to 55 years (59 female) absolute concentrations of glutamate, glutamine, N‐acetylaspartate (NAA), total creatine, and total choline (tCho) in voxels comprising the left hippocampus (HC) and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) were investigated using point‐resolved spectroscopy with an echo time of 80 ms at 3 Tesla in combination with a reliable quantification procedure. Special care was taken to correct for multiple comparisons. Results An age‐related decline of the concentrations of glutamate in both regions studied was observed whereas glutamine levels in ACC increased with age. Statistically significant sex‐related differences were detected for glutamate in the HC and for tCho in the ACC. NAA decreased with age in both regions, the significance not surviving Bonferroni correction. Conclusion The results demonstrate effects of age and gender on glutamate, glutamine, choline containing compounds, and NAA in healthy human brain. They add to the growing evidence for gender‐specific differences in cerebral neurotransmission, metabolism, and structure across the lifespan. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2013;38:1480–1487. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.