Conversion of MCI to dementia: Role of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Metastasio, Antonio; Rinaldi, Patrizia; Tarducci, Roberto; Mariani, Elena; Feliziani, Filippo T.; Cherubini, Antonio; Pelliccioli, Gian Piero; Gobbi, Gianni; Senin, Umberto; Mecocci, Patrizia

doi:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2005.05.002

« Previous Next »Neurobiology of Aging
Volume 27, Issue 7 , Pages 926-932, July 2006

Conversion of MCI to dementia: Role of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Antonio Metastasio
- Institute of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Perugia, Via Brunamonti 51, 06122 Perugia, Italy
Patrizia Rinaldi
- Institute of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Perugia, Via Brunamonti 51, 06122 Perugia, Italy
Roberto Tarducci
- Department of Medical Physics, Perugia Hospital, Via Brunamonti 51, 06122 Perugia, Italy
Elena Mariani
- Institute of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Perugia, Via Brunamonti 51, 06122 Perugia, Italy
Filippo T. Feliziani
- Institute of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Perugia, Via Brunamonti 51, 06122 Perugia, Italy
Antonio Cherubini
- Institute of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Perugia, Via Brunamonti 51, 06122 Perugia, Italy
Gian Piero Pelliccioli
- Department of Neuroradiology, Perugia Hospital, Via Brunamonti 51, 06122 Perugia, Italy
Gianni Gobbi
- Department of Medical Physics, Perugia Hospital, Via Brunamonti 51, 06122 Perugia, Italy
Umberto Senin
- Institute of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Perugia, Via Brunamonti 51, 06122 Perugia, Italy
Patrizia Mecocci
- Institute of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Perugia, Via Brunamonti 51, 06122 Perugia, Italy
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 075 578 3270; fax: +39 075 573 0259.

Received 16 February 2005; received in revised form 4 April 2005; accepted 1 May 2005. published online 06 June 2005.

Abstract

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) represents a heterogeneous group of cognitive disturbances at high risk of dementia. The amnestic subtype (aMCI) might be a prodromal state of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The aim of this study is the identification, by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H MRS), of modifications in brain metabolites able to detect subjects with aMCI at risk of conversion towards AD. Twenty-five subjects with aMCI and 29 normal elderly were enrolled; they underwent a comprehensive clinical and instrumental assessment, a cerebral ¹H MRS scan to measure N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), choline (Cho), myo-inositol (mI) and creatine (Cr) in the paratrigonal white matter, bilaterally. After 1 year, 5 MCI subjects became demented (progressive MCI, pMCI). Their baseline levels of metabolites were compared with those evaluated in stable MCI (sMCI) and in controls. We observed a significant difference of the NAA/Cr ratio between pMCI (1.48±0.08) and sMCI (1.65±0.12) and between pMCI and controls (1.63±0.16) in the left hemisphere, suggesting that this metabolic alteration can be detected before the clinical appearance of dementia.