title: Age related changes in metabolite concentrations in the normal spinal cord.
abstract: Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) studies have previously described metabolite changes associated with aging of the healthy brain and provided insights into normal brain aging that can assist us in differentiating age-related changes from those associated with neurological disease. The present study investigates whether age-related changes in metabolite concentrations occur in the healthy cervical spinal cord. 25 healthy volunteers, aged 23-65 years, underwent conventional imaging and single-voxel MRS of the upper cervical cord using an optimised point resolved spectroscopy sequence on a 3T Achieva system. Metabolite concentrations normalised to unsuppressed water were quantified using LCModel and associations between age and spinal cord metabolite concentrations were examined using multiple regressions. A linear decline in total N-Acetyl-aspartate concentration (0.049 mmol/L lower per additional year of age, p = 0.010) and Glutamate-Glutamine concentration (0.054 mmol/L lower per additional year of age, p = 0.002) was seen within our sample age range, starting in the early twenties. The findings suggest that neuroaxonal loss and/or metabolic neuronal dysfunction, and decline in glutamate-glutamine neurotransmitter pool progress with aging.
authors.affiliation: NMR Research Unit, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom; Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Khaled
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Abdel-Aziz
authors.affiliation: NMR Research Unit, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom; Department of Neuroinflammation, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Bhavana S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Solanky
authors.affiliation: NMR Research Unit, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom; Department of Neuroinflammation, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Marios C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Yiannakas
authors.affiliation: Medical Statistics Department, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Daniel R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Altmann
authors.affiliation: NMR Research Unit, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom; Department of Neuroinflammation, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Claudia A M
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Wheeler-Kingshott
authors.affiliation: NMR Research Unit, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom; Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom; National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) University College London Hospitals (UCLH) Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Alan J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: NMR Research Unit, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom; Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom; National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) University College London Hospitals (UCLH) Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ciccarelli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D002794:Choline / Q000378:metabolism; D003401:Creatine / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D005973:Glutamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000378:metabolism*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D005973:Glutamine; D001224:Aspartic Acid; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D003401:Creatine; D002794:Choline