TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of Aging on the Human Brain
T2 - A Proton and Phosphorus MR Spectroscopy Study at 3T
AU - Schmitz, Birte
AU - Wang, Xin
AU - Barker, Peter B.
AU - Pilatus, Ulrich
AU - Bronzlik, Paul
AU - Dadak, Mete
AU - Kahl, Kai G.
AU - Lanfermann, Heinrich
AU - Ding, Xiao Qi
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2018 by the American Society of Neuroimaging
PY - 2018/7/1
Y1 - 2018/7/1
N2 - 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 1H-MR spectroscopic imaging in combination with 31P-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.
AB - 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 1H-MR spectroscopic imaging in combination with 31P-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.
KW - Aging
KW - MRS
KW - N-acetylaspartate
KW - adenosine triphosphate
KW - global brain metabolites
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U2 - 10.1111/jon.12514
DO - 10.1111/jon.12514
M3 - Article
C2 - 29630746
AN - SCOPUS:85045082484
SN - 1051-2284
VL - 28
SP - 416
EP - 421
JO - Journal of Neuroimaging
JF - Journal of Neuroimaging
IS - 4
ER -