title: Assessment of Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC) and Left Cerebellar Metabolism in Asperger's Syndrome with Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) is a noninvasive neuroimaging method to quantify biochemical metabolites in vivo and it can serve as a powerful tool to monitor neurobiochemical profiles in the brain. Asperger's syndrome (AS) is a type of autism spectrum disorder, which is characterized by impaired social skills and restrictive, repetitive patterns of interest and activities, while intellectual levels and language skills are relatively preserved. Despite clinical aspects have been well-characterized, neurometabolic profiling in the brain of AS remains to be clear. The present study used proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) to investigate whether pediatric AS is associated with measurable neurometabolic abnormalities that can contribute new information on the neurobiological underpinnings of the disorder.
  
  
  METHODS
  Study participants consisted of 34 children with AS (2-12 years old; mean age 5.2 (±2.0); 28 boys) and 19 typically developed children (2-11 years old; mean age 5.6 (±2.6); 12 boys) who served as the normal control group. The 1H MRS data were obtained from two regions of interest: the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and left cerebellum.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the ACC, levels of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), total creatine (tCr), total choline-containing compounds (tCho) and myo-Inositol (mI) were significantly decreased in children with AS compared to controls. On the other hand, no significant group differences in any of the metabolites were found in the left cerebellum. Neither age nor sex accounted for the metabolic findings in the regions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The finding of decreased levels of NAA, tCr, tCho, and mI in the ACC but not in left cerebellar voxels in the AS, suggests a lower ACC neuronal density in the present AS cohort compared to controls.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School, Tokushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Aya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Goji
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School, Tokushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiromichi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Health & Nursing, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School, Tokushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School, Tokushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Masafumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Harada
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School, Tokushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Sonoka
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hisaoka
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School, Tokushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Toda
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School, Tokushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Tatsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School, Tokushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School, Tokushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Masahito
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miyazaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School, Tokushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Shoji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kagami
mesh_terms: D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism; D020817:Asperger Syndrome / Q000473:pathology*; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000378:metabolism*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002794:Choline / Q000378:metabolism; D003401:Creatine / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007294:Inositol / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D066244:Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D001224:Aspartic Acid; D007294:Inositol; C000179:N-acetylaspartate; D003401:Creatine; D002794:Choline