Study of the hippocampus and the anterior cingulate gyrus by proton MR spectroscopy in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder.
OBJECTIVE
To explore the characteristics of metabolic changes in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder through 1H-MRS in neuroanatomical circuit comparing with age-matches controls.


METHODS
Fifty patients with post-traumatic stress disorder and 50 gender-and age-matched normal controls were involved. The neurochemical abnormalities including the levels of choline (Cho)/creatine(Cr) and N-acetylaspartate (NAA)/Cr were measured respectively in hippocampus and the anterior cingulate gyrus with three-dimension 1H-proton spectroscopy(3D 1H-MRS).


RESULTS
The values of NAA/Cr ratios in hippocampus and the anterior cingulate gyrus were significant lower in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder(1.71±0.32, left 1.58±0.29, right 1.55±0.31) than that in controls(2.24±0.41, left 1.98±0.27, right 2.02±0.36)(P<0.05), but the values of Cho/Cr in hippocampus(left 1.64±0.23, right 1.66±0.34) were no significant with that of controls (left 1.48±0.29, right 1.54±0.38). Values of Cho/Cr in cingulate gyrus were significant higher in post-traumatic stress disorder patients (1.88±0.44) than that in controls (1.37.±0.32) (P<0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The results indicate some special neurochemical and histological structure changes in post-traumatic stress disorder patients, which might occurre earlier in anterior cingulate gyrusthe than in hippocampus.
Psychological Research Center, Hainan Provincial People's Hospital, China.
Min
M
Guo
Feng
F
Chen
Jun-Cheng
JC
Guo
Chuan-Zhu
CZ
Lu
Xiang-Ling
XL
Jiang
Tao
T
Liu
Min
M
Li
Wei
W
Song
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D002794:Choline / Q000378:metabolism*; D003401:Creatine / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011522:Protons; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D055815:Young Adult
D011522:Protons; D001224:Aspartic Acid; C000179:N-acetylaspartate; D003401:Creatine; D002794:Choline