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Neurochemistry of late-life major depression: A pilot two-dimensional MR spectroscopic study

✍ Scribed by Nader Binesh; Anand Kumar; Sun Hwang; Jim Mintz; M. Albert Thomas


Publisher
John Wiley and Sons
Year
2004
Tongue
English
Weight
842 KB
Volume
20
Category
Article
ISSN
1053-1807

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✦ Synopsis


Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate a two‐dimensional localized chemical shift correlated spectroscopy (L‐COSY) sequence in elderly patients with major depression.

Materials and Methods

A total of 33 healthy elderly subjects and 15 elderly patients with major depression were investigated. A voxel size of 3 × 3 × 3 cm^3^ was chosen in the dorsolateral prefrontal region with predominantly white matter, with the use of three slice‐selective radiofrequency (RF) pulses (90°, 180°, and 90°). A chemical shift‐selective (CHESS) sequence was used prior to volume localization for the presaturation of water. The two‐dimensional raw data matrix consisted of 1024 complex points along the detection period (t~2~), and 100 increments along the evolution period (t~1~), resulting in a total acquisition time of approximately 27 minutes per acquisition. The metabolite ratios were calculated using the two‐dimensional peak volumes with respect to the diagonal peak volume of total creatine (Cr) at 3.0 ppm.

Results

In the 33 elderly subjects, the mean ratio of choline (Cho) to Cr was 10% higher in men compared to women (P < 0.05), consistent with earlier findings obtained by one‐dimensional MRS. When the metabolite ratios were compared in a subsample of 16 elderly female controls and 12 depressed female patients, the depressed geriatric patients had higher levels of myoinositol (mI), phosphoethanolamine (PE), and glutamate/glutamine (Glx) than the controls, although the differences were not statistically significant.

Conclusion

Our pilot study shows the feasibility of performing two‐dimensional L‐COSY successfully in elderly subjects and patients with late‐life mood disorders. These findings are consistent with and expand on our earlier findings in major depressive disorder (MDD) detected with one‐dimensional MRS. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2004;20:1039–1045. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.