title: A 1H MRS study of probable Alzheimer's disease and normal aging: implications for longitudinal monitoring of dementia progression.
abstract: In order to evaluate the capability of 1H MRS to monitor longitudinal changes in subjects with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD), the temporal stability of the metabolite measures N-acetylaspartate and N-acetylaspartylglutamate (NA), total Creatine (Cr), myo-Inositol (mI), total Choline (Chol), NA/Cr, mI/Cr, Chol/Cr and NA/mI were investigated in a cohort of normal older adults. Only the metabolite measures NA, mI, Cr, NA/Cr, mI/Cr, and NA/mI were found to be stable after a mean interval of 260 days. Relative and absolute metabolite measures from a cohort of patients with probable AD were subsequently compared with data from a sample of normal older adult control subjects, and correlated with mental status and the degree of atrophy in the localized voxel. Concentrations of NA, NA/Cr, and NA/mI were significantly reduced in the AD group with concomitant significant increases in mI and mI/Cr. There were no differences between the two groups in measures of Cr, Chol, or Chol/Cr. Significant correlations between mental status as measured by the Mini-Mental State Examination and NA/mI, mI/Cr and NA were found. These metabolite measures were also significantly correlated with the extent of atrophy (as measured by CSF and GM composition) in the spectroscopy voxel.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Magnetic Resonance, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. Stephen.Rose@cmr.uq.edu.au
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.forename: G I
authors.initials: GI
authors.lastname: de Zubicaray
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Galloway
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Chalk
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Eagle
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Semple
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Doddrell
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013997:Time Factors