title: Shortening of hippocampal spin-spin relaxation time in probable Alzheimer's disease: a 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy study.
abstract: We quantified the differential effects of the spin-spin relaxation times (T2) of tissue water and cerebral spinal fluid in order to examine hippocampal T2 changes as a non-invasive bio-marker of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We measured T2 in the right hippocampus of ten patients fulfilling the NINCDS-ADRDA criteria for AD and 40 healthy adult volunteers using localized proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The T2 values of AD patients (73 +/- 8 ms) were significantly shorter (P < 0.01) than those of healthy age-matched controls (81 +/- 5 ms), and there was a reduction in T2 for healthy older vs. healthy younger adults (87 +/- 5 ms, P < 0.05). The reduced T2 values with aging are consistent with age-related decreases in tissue water content. Our results suggest that there may be a severe reduction in tissue water content in AD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, 102 Gilmer Hall, Box 400400, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4400, USA.
authors.forename: Andreana P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Haley
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Knight-Scott
authors.forename: Kathleen L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Fuchs
authors.forename: Virginia I
authors.initials: VI
authors.lastname: Simnad
authors.forename: Carol A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Manning
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011522:Protons; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D011522:Protons