Brain changes with aging: MR spectroscopy at supraventricular plane shows differences between women and men.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the effect of aging on the proportions of choline (Cho), creatine, and N-acetylaspartate (NAA) in the brains of elderly women and men.


METHODS
A transverse plane above the ventricle of the brain was mapped with magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Examinations were performed in 1995-1996 with 271 healthy subjects (age range, 60-90 years; mean age, 73 years) and were repeated 4 years later (1999-2000). Student t tests were used for statistical analysis.


RESULTS
Difference analysis of the changes in 4 years (paired data) reproduced the decrease in Cho in women only (2.9% per year, P <.001) that had been indicated with intersubject correlation analyses. Decreases in NAA, though significant in both men and women according to age correlation analyses (P <.01 for both), did not reach significance. The resulting sex difference in the Cho/NAA ratio at a mean age of 77 years, while not yet significant at a mean age of 73 years, was especially manifest in the posterior half of the plane analyzed.


CONCLUSIONS
Increasing sex differences in Cho/NAA ratios in a supraventricular plane indicate that brain metabolite levels differ between women and men at advanced age.
Sijens
Paul E
PE
Department of Radiology, Univ Hosp Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9713 GZ Groningen, the Netherlands. p.e.sijens@rad.azg.nl
den Heijer
Tom
T
Origgi
Daniela
D
Vermeer
Sarah E
SE
Breteler
Monique M B
MM
Hofman
Albert
A
Oudkerk
Matthijs
M
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism*; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D002794:Choline / Q000378:metabolism*; D003401:Creatine / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D012737:Sex Factors
D001224:Aspartic Acid; C000179:N-acetylaspartate; D003401:Creatine; D002794:Choline