title: Regional N-acetylaspartate reduction in the hippocampus detected with fast proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging in patients with Alzheimer disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To detect regional metabolic changes that resemble the expected spatial pattern of neuronal loss in patients with Alzheimer disease (AD).
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-four patients with AD and 22 healthy control subjects were included in the study. Single-slice fast proton spectroscopic imaging was performed in parallel angulation to the temporal lobes. Proton spectra were selected from the hippocampus, the lateral temporal lobe, and the occipital lobe of both hemispheres to determine metabolite concentration of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), total creatine (tCr), including phosphocreatine and creatine, and choline-containing compounds (Cho). The metabolic ratios of NAA/tCr and Cho/tCr were calculated and compared between patients with AD and healthy volunteers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The NAA/tCr ratios were significantly reduced in the left (F(1,1) = 4.34, P =.04) and right hippocampus (F(1,1) = 9.96, P =.003) in patients with AD. The Cho/tCr ratios remained unchanged in both hippocampi. There was no significant change of either NAA/tCr or Cho/tCr in the lateral temporal and occipital lobes of patients with AD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides evidence that fast proton spectroscopic imaging may detect the regional pattern of disturbed neuronal integrity in patients with AD with high spatial resolution in a short acquisition time.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, D-53105 Bonn, Germany. block@uni-bonn.de
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Block
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jessen
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Träber
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Flacke
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Manka
authors.forename: Rolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lamerichs
authors.forename: Ewald
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.forename: Reinhard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Heun
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schild
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism*; D002794:Choline / Q000378:metabolism; D003401:Creatine / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D010725:Phosphocreatine / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D010725:Phosphocreatine; D001224:Aspartic Acid; C000179:N-acetylaspartate; D003401:Creatine; D002794:Choline