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Wijtenburg SA, McGuire SA, Rowland LM, Sherman PM, Lancaster JL, Tate DF, Hardies LJ, Patel B, Glahn DC, Hong LE, Fox PT, Kochunov P. Relationship between fractional anisotropy of cerebral white matter and metabolite concentrations measured using (1)H magnetic resonance spectroscopy in healthy adults. Neuroimage 2012; 66:161-8. [PMID: 23073233 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.10.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2012] [Revised: 08/31/2012] [Accepted: 10/08/2012] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Fractional anisotropy (FA) of water diffusion in cerebral white matter (WM), derived from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), is a sensitive index of microscopic WM integrity. Physiological and metabolic factors that explain intersubject variability in FA values were evaluated in two cohorts of healthy adults of different age spans (N=65, range: 28-50years; and N=25, age=66.6±6.2, range: 57-80years). Single voxel magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) was used to measure N-acetylaspartate (NAA), total choline-containing compounds, and total creatine, bilaterally in an associative WM tract: anterior corona radiata (ACR). FA values were calculated for the underlying, proximal and two distal WM regions. Two-stage regression analysis was used to calculate the proportion of variability in FA values explained by spectroscopy measurements, at the first stage, and subject's age, at the second stage. WM NAA concentration explained 23% and 66% of intersubject variability (p<0.001) in the FA of the underlying WM in the younger and older cohorts, respectively. WM NAA concentration also explained a significant proportion of variability in FA of the genu of corpus callosum (CC), a proximal WM tract where some of the fibers contained within the spectroscopic voxel decussate. NAA concentrations also explained a significant proportion of variability in the FA values in the splenium of CC, a distal WM tract that also carries associative fibers, in both cohorts. These results suggest that MRS measurements explained a significant proportion of variability in FA values in both proximal and distal WM tracts that carry similar fiber-types.
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Affiliation(s)
- S A Wijtenburg
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - S A McGuire
- Aerospace Medicine Consultation Division, Dayton, OH, USA
| | - L M Rowland
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - P M Sherman
- Department of Neuroradiology, Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - J L Lancaster
- Research Imaging Institute, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - D F Tate
- Research Imaging Institute, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - L J Hardies
- Research Imaging Institute, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - B Patel
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA; Department of Physics, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), MD, USA
| | - D C Glahn
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University and Olin Neuropsychiatric Research Center, Hartford, CT, USA
| | - L E Hong
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - P T Fox
- Research Imaging Institute, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - P Kochunov
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA; Department of Physics, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), MD, USA.
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Unschuld PG, Edden RAE, Carass A, Liu X, Shanahan M, Wang X, Oishi K, Brandt J, Bassett SS, Redgrave GW, Margolis RL, van Zijl PCM, Barker PB, Ross CA. Brain metabolite alterations and cognitive dysfunction in early Huntington's disease. Mov Disord 2012; 27:895-902. [PMID: 22649062 PMCID: PMC3383395 DOI: 10.1002/mds.25010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2011] [Revised: 01/12/2012] [Accepted: 03/26/2012] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by early cognitive decline that progresses at later stages to dementia and severe movement disorder. HD is caused by a cytosine-adenine-guanine triplet-repeat expansion mutation in the Huntingtin gene, allowing early diagnosis by genetic testing. This study aimed to identify the relationship of N-acetylaspartate and other brain metabolites to cognitive function in HD-mutation carriers by using high-field-strength magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) at 7 Tesla. Twelve individuals with the HD mutation in premanifest or early-stage disease versus 12 healthy controls underwent (1)H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (7.2 mL voxel in the posterior cingulate cortex) at 7 Tesla, and also T1-weighted structural magnetic resonance imaging. All participants received standardized tests of cognitive functioning including the Montreal Cognitive Assessment and standardized quantified neurological examination within an hour before scanning. Individuals with the HD mutation had significantly lower posterior cingulate cortex N-acetylaspartate (-9.6%, P = .02) and glutamate (-10.1%, P = .02) levels than did controls. In contrast, in this small group, measures of brain morphology including striatal and ventricle volumes did not differ significantly. Linear regression with Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores revealed significant correlations with N-acetylaspartate (r(2) = 0.50, P = .01) and glutamate (NAA) (r(2) = 0.64, P = .002) in HD subjects. Our data suggest a relationship between reduced N-acetylaspartate and glutamate levels in the posterior cingulate cortex with cognitive decline in the early stages of HD. N-acetylaspartate and glutamate magnetic resonance spectroscopy signals of the posterior cingulate cortex region may serve as potential biomarkers of disease progression or treatment outcome in HD and other neurodegenerative disorders with early cognitive dysfunction, when structural brain changes are still minor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul G Unschuld
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, USA.
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Versluis MJ, van der Grond J, van Buchem MA, van Zijl P, Webb AG. High-field imaging of neurodegenerative diseases. Neuroimaging Clin N Am 2012; 22:159-71, ix. [PMID: 22548926 DOI: 10.1016/j.nic.2012.02.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
High-field magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is showing potential for imaging of neurodegenerative diseases. 7 T MR imaging is beginning to be used in a clinical research setting and the theoretical benefits of higher signal-to-noise ratio, sensitivity to iron, improved MR angiography, and increased spectral resolution in spectroscopy are being confirmed. Despite the limited number of studies to date, initial results in patients with multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer disease, and Huntington disease show promising additional features in contrast that may help the diagnosis of these disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- M J Versluis
- Department of Radiology, C.J. Gorter Center for High Field MR, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA Leiden, The Netherlands.
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Elevated pontine and putamenal GABA levels in mild-moderate Parkinson disease detected by 7 tesla proton MRS. PLoS One 2012; 7:e30918. [PMID: 22295119 PMCID: PMC3266292 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0030918] [Citation(s) in RCA: 128] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2011] [Accepted: 12/24/2011] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Parkinson disease (PD) is characterized by the degeneration of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons. However, postmortem evidence indicates that the pathology of lower brainstem regions, such as the pons and medulla, precedes nigral involvement. Consistently, pontomedullary damage was implicated by structural and PET imaging in early PD. Neurochemical correlates of this early pathological involvement in PD are unknown. Methodology/Principal Finding To map biochemical alterations in the brains of individuals with mild-moderate PD we quantified neurochemical profiles of the pons, putamen and substantia nigra by 7 tesla (T) proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Thirteen individuals with idiopathic PD (Hoehn & Yahr stage 2) and 12 age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers participated in the study. γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) concentrations in the pons and putamen were significantly higher in patients (N = 11, off medications) than controls (N = 11, p<0.001 for pons and p<0.05 for putamen). The GABA elevation was more pronounced in the pons (64%) than in the putamen (32%). No other neurochemical differences were observed between patients and controls. Conclusion/Significance The GABA elevation in the putamen is consistent with prior postmortem findings in patients with PD, as well as with in vivo observations in a rodent model of PD, while the GABA finding in the pons is novel. The more significant GABA elevation in the pons relative to the putamen is consistent with earlier pathological involvement of the lower brainstem. This study provides in vivo evidence for an alteration in the GABAergic tone in the lower brainstem and striatum in early-moderate PD, which may underlie disease pathogenesis and may provide a biomarker for disease staging.
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