title: Usefulness of proton and phosphorus MR spectroscopic imaging for early diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Cerebral mitochondrial dysfunction has been observed in Parkinson's disease (PD). If mitochondrial dysfunction is an early event contributing to PD development, then noninvasive techniques that detect disturbed energy metabolism in vivo might be useful tools for early diagnosis and treatment monitoring. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that proton ((1) H) and phosphorus ((31) P) magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) measures of brain metabolites are able to differentiate between individuals with early PD and healthy volunteers (HVs).
  
  
  METHODS
  During this cross-sectional study including 20 subjects with early PD and 15 age-matched HV, ventricular lactate (anaerobic glycolysis); and regional levels of N-acetylaspartate (neuronal integrity); choline (membrane turnover); creatine (energy metabolism); ATP and other phosphate-containing compounds (oxidative phosphorylation) were determined using brain (1) H and (31) P MRS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No metabolic abnormalities were detectable in early-stage PD patients. Metabolite concentrations were not related to age, disease duration, or Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale motor scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In early PD, neither (1) H nor (31) P MRS were able to detect metabolic abnormalities, a finding that is in contrast to published data in more advanced PD cohorts. MRS under dynamic conditions might uncover latent energy deficits in early PD, thus warranting future study.
authors: Department of Radiology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY.
authors: Nora
authors: N
authors: Weiduschat
authors: Xiangling
authors: X
authors: Mao
authors: M Flint
authors: MF
authors: Beal
authors: Melissa J
authors: MJ
authors: Nirenberg
authors: Dikoma C
authors: DC
authors: Shungu
authors: Claire
authors: C
authors: Henchcliffe
mesh_terms: D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D002794:Choline / Q000378:metabolism*; D003401:Creatine / Q000378:metabolism*; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism*; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D066244:Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D010758:Phosphorus; D001224:Aspartic Acid; C000179:N-acetylaspartate; D003401:Creatine; D002794:Choline
keywords: Magnetic resonance spectroscopy; Parkinson's disease; biomarker; diagnosis; mitochondrial dysfunction