Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy measurement of brain glutamate levels in premenstrual dysphoric disorder.
BACKGROUND
Women who suffer from premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) classically display depressive and anxiety symptoms in the premenstrum. Preclinical and clinical studies have suggested a role of glutamate in anxiety and depression. This investigation aims at demonstrating fluctuations of glutamate across the menstrual cycle in the medial prefrontal cortex of women who suffer from PMDD and healthy control subjects (HCs).


METHODS
Twelve PMDD women and 13 HCs were randomized to two single-voxel 3 Tesla proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy examinations of the medial prefrontal cortex during the follicular phase and the luteal phase.


RESULTS
A phase effect was observed; the levels of glutamate/creatine plus phosphocreatine (Cr) were significantly lower during the luteal phase compared with the follicular phase. However, no statistically significant diagnosis or phase x diagnosis effects were found.


CONCLUSIONS
The optimized stimulated echo acquisition mode (STEAM) pulse timings selected in this study (echo time [TE], mixing time [TM] = 240, 27 msec) allow us to interpret our results as the first report of alterations of brain glutamate levels across the menstrual cycle. Hormonal fluctuations associated with the menstrual cycle likely contribute to these glutamate level variations. Although PMDD women undergo a similar decrease in glutamate during the luteal phase as the HCs, PMDD women may display an increased behavioral sensitivity to those phase-related alterations. These menstrual cycle-related variations of glutamate levels may also contribute to the influence of the phases of the menstrual cycle in other neuropsychiatric disorders.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. nbatra@ualberta.ca
Neha Arun
NA
Batra
Janette
J
Seres-Mailo
Chris
C
Hanstock
Peter
P
Seres
Janisse
J
Khudabux
François
F
Bellavance
Glen
G
Baker
Peter
P
Allen
Philip
P
Tibbo
Eric
E
Hui
Jean-Michel
JM
Le Melledo
D000328:Adult; D003401:Creatine / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005498:Follicular Phase / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008183:Luteal Phase / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010555:Personality Inventory; D010725:Phosphocreatine / Q000378:metabolism; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011293:Premenstrual Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology
D010725:Phosphocreatine; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D003401:Creatine