title: Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy in Parkinson's disease and progressive supranuclear palsy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) localised to the lentiform nucleus, was carried out in eight patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease and five patients with progressive supranuclear palsy. The aim of the study was to assess the concentration of N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA), creatine and phosphocreatine (Cr), and choline containing compounds (Cho) in the putamen and globus pallidus of these patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Peak ratios obtained from patients were compared with those from nine healthy age matched controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  NAA/Cho and NAA/Cr ratios were reduced significantly in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest an NAA deficit, due to neuronal loss, in the lentiform nucleus of these patients. 1H-MRS is a non-invasive technique that can provide useful information concerning striatal neuronal loss in the basal ganglia of patients with parkinsonian syndromes.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neurology, University of Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Federico
authors.forename: I L
authors.initials: IL
authors.lastname: Simone
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lucivero
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Mari
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Giannini
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Iliceto
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Mezzapesa
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lamberti
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000378:metabolism; D003401:Creatine / Q000378:metabolism; D005917:Globus Pallidus / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000378:metabolism*; D010725:Phosphocreatine / Q000378:metabolism; D011699:Putamen / Q000378:metabolism*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013494:Supranuclear Palsy, Progressive / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D010725:Phosphocreatine; D001224:Aspartic Acid; C000179:N-acetylaspartate; D003401:Creatine