Study of the features of proton MR spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS) on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

PURPOSE: To study the features of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS) on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and its relation with clinical scale.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifteen patients with definite or probable ALS and 15 age- and gender-matched normal controls were enrolled. (1)H-MRS was performed on a 3.0 Tesla GE imaging system (GE Healthcare, Milwaukee, WI). TE-averaged Point Resolved Selective Spectroscopy was used. N-acetylaspartate (NAA), creatine (Cr), Glu, and Glx (glutamate + glutamine) values of the motor cortex and posterior limb of internal capsule were acquired. The t-test was used to compare differences between groups, and the correlations between the above values and clinical scale were analyzed.
RESULTS: The motor area and posterior limb of the internal capsule of ALS patients had lower NAA/Cr (1.91 +/- 0.34, 1.53 +/- 0.17) compared with normal subjects (2.23 +/- 0.33, 1.66 +/- 0.07), and the differences between groups were statistically significant (P < 0.01, 0.01). ALS patients had higher Glu/Cr (0.34 +/- 0.05, 0.29 +/- 0.06) and Glx/Cr (0.40 +/- 0.04, 0.33 +/- 0.06) compared with normal subjects (0.30 +/- 0.03, 0.25 +/- 0.04) and (0.32 +/- 0.05, 0.26 +/- 0.03), and the differences between groups were statistically significant (P < 0.01, 0.01). The Norris scale was negatively correlated with Glx/Cr of primary motor cortex by lineal correlation analysis (r = -0.75), and this correlation had statistical significance (F = 16.60; P = 0.001).
CONCLUSION: Neuronal loss and Glu+Gln increase can be detected by using proton MRS in ALS patients. (1)H-MRS is an useful tool in reflecting the characteristic changes of metabolite in ALS.