title: Risk for metabolic syndrome predisposes to alterations in the thalamic metabolism.
abstract: Risk factors for the metabolic syndrome (MetS) affect brain function and associate with asymptomatic brain infarctions in healthy individuals. We studied whether MetS risk factors alter cerebral metabolism. Eighteen non-smoking men (36 +/- 6years) were stratified into two groups according to their risk of developing the MetS. Individuals in the Risk group had a family history of type 2 diabetes, were pre-obese, had mild hypertension and higher fasting plasma glucose and serum insulin compared to the Control group with no risk factors. N-acetyl aspartate, choline, total creatine (tCr), myo-inositol, and glucose were studied in the thalamus, frontal cortex, and frontal white matter with proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The plasma glucose was 13% higher (p < 0.01) in the Risk group, but the brain glucose levels were comparable between the groups. In the Control group, the thalamic tCr correlated with the thalamic glucose level (r = 0.81, p = 0.015). In the Risk group, the tCr was 17% higher (p = 0.006) and correlated with the fasting plasma glucose concentration (r = 0.78, p = 0.013), but not with the thalamic glucose level. In conclusion, the increased tCr level in the Risk group suggests that a family history of type 2 diabetes together with MetS risk factors alters thalamic energy metabolism.
authors.affiliation: Folkhälsan Institute of Genetics, Folkhälsan Research Center, Biomedicum Helsinki C330b, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 63, 00014 Helsinki, Finland. outi.heikkila@helsinki.fi
authors.forename: Outi
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Heikkilä
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lundbom
authors.forename: Marjut
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Timonen
authors.forename: Per-Henrik
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Groop
authors.forename: Sami
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Heikkinen
authors.forename: Sari
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mäkimattila
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000886:Anthropometry; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D002794:Choline / Q000378:metabolism; D003401:Creatine / Q000378:metabolism; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007294:Inositol / Q000378:metabolism; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013788:Thalamus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D007328:Insulin; D001224:Aspartic Acid; D007294:Inositol; C000179:N-acetylaspartate; D003401:Creatine; D002794:Choline