Evaluation of brain metabolites by 1H MRS in Alzheimer's disease

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) is a fixed technique for quantifying the brain regional biochemistry in vivo. it provides a sensitive tool for investigating the neural basis of cognitive operations that are directly relevant to specific deficits in psychiatric disorders or neurodegenerative diseases associated with advanced age such as Alzheimer diseases.Alzheimer disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia, and is characterized by progressive loss of cognitive function as well as a distinct pathological profile of neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid plaques that begins in the mediotemporal lobe (hippocampus and enthorhinal cortex) and limbic areas.The molecular neuropathology of Alzheimer disease is thought to precede structural brain alteration by several years. Hence, measurements of tissue metabolism may be sensitive biomarkers of very early disease processes. 1H MRS provides a non-invasive method of assessing brain metabolites in vivo. Altered neurometabolic profiles have been detected in Alzheimer disease using 1H MRS. Short echotime proton MRS is capable of detecting several metabolic by - products, including N-acetylaspartate (NAA), glutamate (Glu), glutamine (Gln), myo-inositol (mI), choline (Cho) and creatine (Cr) (Rupsingh and Borrie, 2011).Cross-sectional analysis of absolute metabolite levels and metabolite ratios in the hippocampus of subjects with AD show a distinct neurochemical profile that includes decreased Glu, NAA/Cr, Glu/Cr, Glu/mI, and Glu/NAA compared to normal elderly.The article discussed is the result of a PubMed search by using the phrases “Alzheimer disease” and “1H MRS”

Evaluation of brain metabolites by 1H MRS in Alzheimer's disease Keywords:

Biophysics , 1H MRS , Alzheimer disease , Metabolite