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Hippocampal Proton MR Spectroscopy in Early Alzheimer’s Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment

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Abstract

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) studies have previously reported reduced brain N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) and increased myo-inositol (mI) in people with established Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The earliest structure affected by AD is the hippocampus but relatively few studies have examined its neuronal integrity by MRS in AD and fewer still in people with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We measured the hippocampal concentration of NAA, mI, choline (Cho) and creatine + phosphocreatine (Cr + PCr) in 39 patients with AD, 21 subjects with MCI and 38 age matched healthy elderly controls. Patients with AD had a significantly lower hippocampal [NAA] than controls, with subjects with MCI intermediate between the other two groups. [NAA] was positively correlated with memory in the impaired groups. Using mean hippocampal [NAA] and [Cr + PCr] we correctly classified 72% of people with AD, and 75% of controls. Reductions in [NAA] can be detected in the hippocampi of subjects with MCI and hippocampal [NAA] and [Cr + PCr] can distinguish between mild AD and normal elderly controls.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Alzheimer’s Research Trust and the NIHR Specialist Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom. We thank the participants and their relatives for taking part.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Psychiatry, MRC Centre for Neurodegeneration Research, King’s College London, London, UK

    Catherine M. L. Foy, Eileen M. Daly, Andrew Simmons & Simon Lovestone

  2. National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, London, UK

    Amanda Glover, Andrew Simmons, Declan G. M. Murphy & Simon Lovestone

  3. Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8AF, UK

    Amanda Glover, Ruth O’Gorman, Andrew Simmons, Declan G. M. Murphy & Simon Lovestone

Authors
  1. Catherine M. L. Foy
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  2. Eileen M. Daly
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  3. Amanda Glover
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  4. Ruth O’Gorman
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  5. Andrew Simmons
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  6. Declan G. M. Murphy
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  7. Simon Lovestone
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Correspondence to Andrew Simmons.

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Foy, C.M.L., Daly, E.M., Glover, A. et al. Hippocampal Proton MR Spectroscopy in Early Alzheimer’s Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment. Brain Topogr 24, 316–322 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10548-011-0170-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10548-011-0170-5

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