Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry
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Prog. Neuropsychopharmacol. Biol. Psychiatry · Dec 2004
Comparative StudyIn vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the temporal lobe in Alzheimer's disease.
Prior proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) studies have consistently reported decreased brain n-acetyl aspartate (NAA) levels and increased myo-inositol (mI) levels in subjects with Alzheimer's disease (AD) relative to healthy comparison subjects. These studies have usually been conducted in small and homogeneous populations of patients with established Alzheimer's disease. Few studies have tested the usefulness of this finding in a general population seeking evaluation for memory loss and other cognitive declines. We designed a study to evaluate the significance of single-voxel proton MRS findings in these patients with memory loss and other cognitive declines. GENERAL METHOD: Thirty-five subjects with a primary complaint of memory loss and other cognitive declines were consecutively referred over a period of 13 months to a specialty clinic. Patients with a diagnosis of mild to moderate probable Alzheimer's disease (N = 22), non-Alzheimer's dementia (depression, multiinfarct dementia, Parkinson's Disease, Korsakoff's Psychosis, and bipolar disorder; N = 13), and healthy comparison subjects (N = 18) were examined with respect to possible differences in metabolites using proton MRS in a 3.4-ml anterior temporal lobe voxel. ⋯ This study found a reduction in the neuronal marker NAA in the anterior temporal lobe of patients diagnosed with probable Alzheimer's disease, using a short add-on proton MRS exam. This change was not observed in patients whose memory loss and other cognitive declines were not attributed to Alzheimer's disease, suggesting that it may aid in the diagnosis or detection of Alzheimer's disease.