Decrease of N-acetylaspartate in the MTL correlates with cognitive decline of AD patients.
In this (1)H-MRS follow-up study of the medial temporal lobe (MTL) in patients with AD, the authors report a correlation of N-acetylaspartate (NAA)/creatine (Cr) with cognitive decline. Severely progressed patients showed a reduction, whereas stable or mildly progressed subjects showed a slight increase of NAA/Cr. The reduction of NAA/Cr in the MTL represents a correlate of cognitive deterioration in AD, whereas it is of limited use to detect subtle changes over time in clinically stable patients.
Jessen
F
F
Department of Psychiatry, University of Bonn, Germany. jessen@uni-bonn.de
Block
W
W
Träber
F
F
Keller
E
E
Flacke
S
S
Lamerichs
R
R
Schild
H H
HH
Heun
R
R
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000523:psychology; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000523:psychology; D003401:Creatine / Q000378:metabolism*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D008875:Middle Aged; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000378:metabolism*
D001224:Aspartic Acid; C000179:N-acetylaspartate; D003401:Creatine