title: Brainstem 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy: marker of demyelination and repair in spinal cord.
abstract: Measuring in vivo spinal cord injury and repair remains elusive. Using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) we examined brainstem N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA) as a surrogate for spinal cord injury in two mouse strains with different reparative phenotypes following virus-induced demyelination. Swiss Jim Lambert (SJL) and Friend Virus B (FVB) mice progressively demyelinate with axonal loss. FVB mice demyelinate similarly but eventually remyelinate coincident with functional recovery. Brainstem NAA levels drop in both but recover in FVB mice. Chronically infected SJL mice lost 30.5% of spinal cord axons compared to FVB mice (7.3%). In remyelination-enhancing or axon-preserving clinical trials, brainstem MRS may be a viable endpoint to represent overall spinal cord dysfunction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
authors.forename: Aleksandar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Denic
authors.forename: Allan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bieber
authors.forename: Arthur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Warrington
authors.forename: Prasanna K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Mishra
authors.forename: Slobodan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Macura
authors.forename: Moses
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000473:pathology* / Q000502:physiology / Q000821:virology*; D003711:Demyelinating Diseases / Q000473:pathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation / Q000821:virology*; D005622:Friend murine leukemia virus / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods; D051379:Mice; D011522:Protons; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000473:pathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation / Q000821:virology*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D011522:Protons; D001224:Aspartic Acid; C000179:N-acetylaspartate