Abstract
Background: Longitudinal changes of brain metabolites during a functional stimulation are unknown in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) subjects. Objective: This study was to evaluate the longitudinal changes of brain metabolites using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) in response to treatment during a memory task in the subjects of cognitive normal (CN), aMCI, and AD. Methods: We acquired functional magnetic resonance spectroscopy (fMRS) data from 28 CN elderly, 16 aMCI and 12 AD subjects during a face-name association task. We measured fMRS metabolite ratios over 24 months in the 8-month apart, determined the temporal changes of the metabolites, and evaluated the differences among the three groups under the three different conditions (base, novel, repeat). Results: The results of comparisons for the three subject groups and the three-time points showed that tNAA/tCho and tCr/tCho were statistically significant among the three subject groups in any of the three conditions. The dynamic temporal change measurements for the metabolites for each condition showed that Glx/tCho and Glu/tCho levels at the third visit increased significantly compared with in the first visit in the novel condition in the AD group. Conclusion: We found declines in tNAA/tCho and tCr/tCho in the aMCI and AD subjects with increasing disease severity, being highest in CN and lowest in AD. The Glx/tCho level increased temporally in the AD subjects after they took an acetylcholine esterase inhibitor. Therefore, Glx may be suitable to demonstrate functional recovery after treatment.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 335-346 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Current Alzheimer Research |
Volume | 18 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2021 Bentham Science Publishers.
Keywords
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Functional magnetic resonance spectroscopy
- Glutamine and glutamate complex (Glx)
- Longitudinal study
- Mild cognitive impairment
- Total N-acetylaspartate (tNAA)