Evaluation of neuron-glia integrity by in vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy: Implications for psychiatric disorders

•Proposed the neurochemical correlates of neuron-astrocyte integrity and axon-myelin integrity.•Reviewed experimental 1H-MRS evidence for neuron-glia integrity impairments;.•Reviewed a great body of 1H-MRS studies that measured brain metabolites in patients with schizophrenia, BD, or MDD patients. P...

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Published in:Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews 2016-12, Vol.71, p.563-577
Main Authors: Xu, Haiyun, Zhang, Handi, Zhang, Jie, Huang, Qingjun, Shen, Zhiwei, Wu, Renhua
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Brain
Glutamic Acid
Glutamine
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
Mental Disorders
MRS
Neurodegenerative disorders
Neuroglia
Neurometabolites
Neuron-glia integrity
Neurons
Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
Psychiatric disorders
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Summary:•Proposed the neurochemical correlates of neuron-astrocyte integrity and axon-myelin integrity.•Reviewed experimental 1H-MRS evidence for neuron-glia integrity impairments;.•Reviewed a great body of 1H-MRS studies that measured brain metabolites in patients with schizophrenia, BD, or MDD patients. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) has been widely applied in human studies. There is now a large literature describing findings of brain MRS studies with mental disorder patients including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, and anxiety disorders. However, the findings are mixed and cannot be reconciled by any of the existing interpretations. Here we proposed the new theory of neuron-glia integrity to explain the findings of brain 1H-MRS stuies. It proposed the neurochemical correlates of neuron-astrocyte integrity and axon-myelin integrity on the basis of update of neurobiological knowledge about neuron-glia communication and of experimental MRS evidence for impairments in neuron-glia integrity from the authors and the other investigators. Following the neuron-glia integrity theories, this review collected evidence showing that glutamate/glutamine change is a good marker for impaired neuron-astrocyte integrity and that changes in N-acetylaspartate and lipid precursors reflect impaired myelination. Moreover, this new theory enables us to explain the differences between MRS findings in neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders.
ISSN:0149-7634
1873-7528
DOI:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.09.027