title: Frontocortical N-acetylaspartate reduction associated with long-term i.v. heroin use.
abstract: To examine possible metabolic frontal lobe alterations in i.v. heroin-dependent patients with different histories of concomitant substance use, N-acetylaspartate (NAA), a putative marker of neuronal viability, was measured by (1)H-MRS. Compared with controls, NAA levels in patients were reduced by 7% in gray matter (p = 0.015) but not in white matter. To what extent comorbid conditions or substance use, including alcohol, contributed to these frontocortical metabolic changes remains to be elucidated.
authors.affiliation: Biocenter, University of Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Haselhorst
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Dürsteler-MacFarland
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Scheffler
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ladewig
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Müller-Spahn
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stohler
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Seelig
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Seifritz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000378:metabolism*; D006556:Heroin Dependence / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D001224:Aspartic Acid; C000179:N-acetylaspartate