title: Localized brain proton NMR spectroscopy in young adult phenylketonuria patients.
abstract: Localized proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy with short echo time (TE = 20 ms) was used to investigate biochemical changes in the cerebral white matter of 20 young adult patients (median 19 years) with phenylketonuria (PKU). Results were compared with those of a group of 12 age-matched healthy volunteers (median 25 years). Concentrations of N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA) and choline (Cho) relative to creatine (Cr) were unchanged. However, concentrations of inositol (Ins) relative to creatine were found to be significantly lower (P < 0.001) in the PKU patients (0.30 +/- 0.09 versus 0.57 +/- 0.17). Individual inositol concentrations did not correlate with age, diet, serum phenylalanine (Phe) levels or extent of pathological regions in the T2-weighted images. The lack of correlation with individual data suggests that the decreased inositol concentration could be related to a metabolic deficiency during fetal development. No signal from the phenyl ring protons of phenylalanine was detected in the PKU patients (phenylalanine serum concentration < or = 1.27 mM), which suggests that concentration of phenylalanine may be lower in brain than in serum.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University Hospitals KU Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Johannik
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Van Hecke
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: François
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Marchal
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Smet
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jaeken
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Breysem
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wilms
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Baert
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000032:analysis; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D002794:Choline / Q000032:analysis; D003401:Creatine / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010661:Phenylketonurias / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001224:Aspartic Acid; C000179:N-acetylaspartate; D003401:Creatine; D002794:Choline