Abstract
Previously reported MRS findings in the aging brain include lower N-acetylaspartate (NAA) and higher myo-inositol (mI), total creatine (Cr) and choline-containing compound (Cho) concentrations. Alterations in the sodium channel voltage gated type I, alpha subunit SCN1A variant rs10930201 have been reported to be associated with several neurological disorders with cognitive deficits. MRS studies in SCN1A-related diseases have reported striking differences in the mI concentrations between patients and controls. In a study on 'healthy aging', we investigated metabolite spectra in a sample of 83 healthy volunteers and determined their age dependence. We also investigated a potential link between SCN1A and mI. We observed a significantly negative association of NAA (p=0.004) and significantly positive associations of mI (p≤0.001), Cr (p≤0.001) and Cho (p=0.034) with age in frontal white matter. The linear association of Cho ends at the age of about 50 years and is followed by an inverted 'U'-shaped curve. Further, mI was higher in C allele carriers of the SCN1A variant rs10930201. Our results corroborated the age-related changes in metabolite concentrations, and found evidence for a link between SCN1A and frontal white matter mI in healthy subjects.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 228-234 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | NMR in Biomedicine |
Volume | 27 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 2014 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Healthy aging
- MRS
- Myo-inositol
- SCN1A
- White matter
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Spectroscopy
- Molecular Medicine
- Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging