title: Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) of motor cortex and basal ganglia in de novo Parkinson's disease patients.
abstract: Proton MR spectroscopy (1H-MRS) has been previously performed in Parkinson's disease (PD) and parkinsonian syndromes to evaluate in vivo concentrations of basal ganglia and cerebral cortex metabolites such as N-acetylaspartate (NAA), choline (Cho), and creatine (Cr). However, this technique has never been used to evaluate motor cortex in untreated PD patients. In this study, single-voxel 1H-MRS of basal ganglia and motor cortex was carried out in 10 de novo patients with PD and 10 age-matched healthy controls. A significant reduction in the NAA/Cr ratio was observed in the motor cortex of PD patients compared with controls (p)<(0.01). Basal ganglia spectra did not allow any evaluation due to the presence of artefacts related to inorganic paramagnetic substances. The motor cortex reduction of the NAA/Cr ratio in de novo PD patients may reflect an altered neuronal functioning due to a loss of thalamocortical excitatory inputs and may represent an in vivo marker for the diagnosis of PD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, University of Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lucetti
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Del Dotto
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gambaccini
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bernardini
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Bianchi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tosetti
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Bonuccelli
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001923:Brain Chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D002794:Choline / Q000378:metabolism; D003401:Creatine / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007294:Inositol / Q000378:metabolism; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D001224:Aspartic Acid; D007294:Inositol; C000179:N-acetylaspartate; D003401:Creatine; D002794:Choline