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Effects of Aging on the Human Brain: A Proton and Phosphorus MR Spectroscopy Study at 3T
Author(s) -
Schmitz Birte,
Wang Xin,
Barker Peter B.,
Pilatus Ulrich,
Bronzlik Paul,
Dadak Mete,
Kahl Kai G.,
Lanfermann Heinrich,
Ding XiaoQi
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of neuroimaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1552-6569
pISSN - 1051-2284
DOI - 10.1111/jon.12514
Subject(s) - medicine , proton , in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy , phosphorus , spectroscopy , brain aging , nuclear medicine , nuclear magnetic resonance , pathology , radiology , magnetic resonance imaging , nuclear physics , disease , physics , materials science , quantum mechanics , metallurgy
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE To investigate accumulative aging effects on neurometabolism in human brain and to collect a reference dataset. METHODS Fifty‐four healthy volunteers aged evenly between 22 and 73 years were studied using whole‐brain 1 H‐MR spectroscopic imaging in combination with 31 P‐MRS at 3T. Global metabolite concentrations of brain N‐acetylaspartate (NAA), total choline (tCho), and total creatine (tCr), as well as phosphocreatine (PCr), adenosine‐5′‐triphosphate (ATP), phosphomonoesters (PME), phosphodiesters (PDE), and inorganic phosphate (Pi) were determined. Fractional volumes of brain gray matter (FVGM), white matter (FVWM), and total tissue (FVTB, GM+WM) were also estimated. RESULTS With age, NAA, ATP, and PME, as well as FVTB and FVGM decreased and tCho and FVWM increased linearly. Positive correlations were found between FVGM and global concentrations of NAA, ATP, PME, and Pi. CONCLUSION Age‐related accumulative metabolic changes in aging human brain correlated with reduced neuronal metabolic activity and density, reflected by decreased NAA, reduced mitochondrial activity by decreased ATP, and reduced membrane synthesis by decreased PME. These changes are associated with age‐related decrease of neuronal volume. Global NAA and ATP might be used as surrogate biomarker for monitoring aging in human brain.