TY - JOUR
T1 - Age-related differences in metabolites in the posterior cingulate cortex and hippocampus of normal ageing brain
T2 - a 1H-MRS study
AU - Reyngoudt, Harmen
AU - Claeys, Tom
AU - Vlerick, Leslie
AU - Verleden, Stijn
AU - Acou, Marjan
AU - Deblaere, Karel
AU - De Deene, Yves
AU - Audenaert, Kurt
AU - Goethals, Ingeborg
AU - Achten, Eric
PY - 2012/3
Y1 - 2012/3
N2 - Objective: To study age-related metabolic changes in N-acetylaspartate (NAA), total creatine (tCr), choline (Cho) and myo-inositol (Ins). Materials and methods: Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 1H-MRS) was performed in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and the left hippocampus (HC) of 90 healthy subjects (42 women and 48 men aged 18-76 years, mean ± SD, 48.4 ± 16.8 years). Both metabolite ratios and absolute metabolite concentrations were evaluated. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and linear regression were used for statistical analysis. Results: Metabolite ratios Ins/tCr and Ins/H 2O were found significantly increased with age in the PCC (P < 0.05 and P ≤ 0.001, respectively), and in the HC (P < 0.01 for both). An increased tCr/H 2O was only observed in the PCC (P < 0.01). Following absolute quantification based on the internal water signal, significantly increased concentrations of Ins and tCr in the PCC confirmed the relative findings (P < 0.01 for both). Conclusion: Age-related increases of tCr and Ins are found in the PCC, whereas this holds only true for Ins in the HC, indicating possible gliosis in the ageing brain. No age-dependent NAA decreases were observed in the PCC nor the HC. The 1H-MRS results in these specific brain regions can be important to differentiate normal ageing from age-related pathologies such as mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease.
AB - Objective: To study age-related metabolic changes in N-acetylaspartate (NAA), total creatine (tCr), choline (Cho) and myo-inositol (Ins). Materials and methods: Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 1H-MRS) was performed in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and the left hippocampus (HC) of 90 healthy subjects (42 women and 48 men aged 18-76 years, mean ± SD, 48.4 ± 16.8 years). Both metabolite ratios and absolute metabolite concentrations were evaluated. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and linear regression were used for statistical analysis. Results: Metabolite ratios Ins/tCr and Ins/H 2O were found significantly increased with age in the PCC (P < 0.05 and P ≤ 0.001, respectively), and in the HC (P < 0.01 for both). An increased tCr/H 2O was only observed in the PCC (P < 0.01). Following absolute quantification based on the internal water signal, significantly increased concentrations of Ins and tCr in the PCC confirmed the relative findings (P < 0.01 for both). Conclusion: Age-related increases of tCr and Ins are found in the PCC, whereas this holds only true for Ins in the HC, indicating possible gliosis in the ageing brain. No age-dependent NAA decreases were observed in the PCC nor the HC. The 1H-MRS results in these specific brain regions can be important to differentiate normal ageing from age-related pathologies such as mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84856972514&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ejrad.2011.01.106
DO - 10.1016/j.ejrad.2011.01.106
M3 - Article
C2 - 21345628
AN - SCOPUS:84856972514
VL - 81
SP - e223-e231
JO - European Journal of Radiology
JF - European Journal of Radiology
SN - 0720-048X
IS - 3
ER -