Mori K, Hashimoto T, Harada M, Yoneda Y, Shimakawa S, Fujii E, Yamaue T, Miyazaki M, Saijo T, Kuroda Y
Department of Pediatrics, Tokushima University School of Medicine, Tokushima.
No To Hattatsu. 2001 Jul;33(4):329-35.
To evaluate brain dysfunction in autism, proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) was performed for 29 autistic patients (5-15 y.o.) and 19 normal children (6-14 y.o.). We obtained magnetic resonance (MR) spectra of the left and right amygdaloid-hippocampal regions and the left cerebellar hemisphere with a STEAM sequence (TR = 5000 ms, TE = 18 ms). In addition to the evaluation of signal intensity ratios, the absolute concentration of three major metabolites (N-acetylaspartate [NAA], creatine/phosphocreatine [Cr] and choline-containing substances [Cho]) was quantified by an internal reference method using unsuppressed tissue water. Although no abnormal MR images were found in the three regions examined, the signal intensity and the concentration of NAA in the left amygdaloid-hippocampal region and the left cerebellar hemisphere were reduced significantly in autistic patients compared to normal children. We speculated that this decrease in NAA reflected neuronal loss, immaturity or hypofunction in these regions. The results of our study were in agreement with those of previous studies on autism, one by neuropathological methods and the other using a single photon emission computed tomography with 99mTc HMPAO. Disorders of the amygdaloid-hippocampal region and cerebellum are considered to play an important role in the characteristic cognitive and emotional dysfunction in autism. 1H-MRS is a valuable tool to clarify the pathophysiology of autism.
为评估自闭症患者的脑功能障碍，对29名自闭症患者（5 - 15岁）和19名正常儿童（6 - 14岁）进行了质子磁共振波谱（1H - MRS）检查。我们采用STEAM序列（TR = 5000 ms，TE = 18 ms）获取了左右杏仁核 - 海马区及左侧小脑半球的磁共振（MR）波谱。除评估信号强度比值外，还使用未抑制的组织水通过内参法对三种主要代谢物（N - 乙酰天门冬氨酸 [NAA]、肌酸/磷酸肌酸 [Cr] 和含胆碱物质 [Cho]）的绝对浓度进行了定量分析。尽管在所检查的三个区域未发现异常MR图像，但与正常儿童相比，自闭症患者左侧杏仁核 - 海马区和左侧小脑半球的NAA信号强度及浓度显著降低。我们推测NAA的这种降低反映了这些区域的神经元丢失、不成熟或功能减退。我们的研究结果与先前关于自闭症的研究结果一致，先前的研究一项采用神经病理学方法，另一项使用99mTc HMPAO单光子发射计算机断层扫描。杏仁核 - 海马区和小脑的功能障碍被认为在自闭症特征性的认知和情感功能障碍中起重要作用。1H - MRS是阐明自闭症病理生理学的一种有价值的工具。
