Nudmamud Sutisa, Reynolds Lindsay M, Reynolds Gavin P
Department of Biomedical Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom.
Biol Psychiatry. 2003 Jun 15;53(12):1138-41. doi: 10.1016/s0006-3223(02)01742-0.
N-acetylaspartylglutamate is found in neurons and its metabolite N-acetylaspartate, which can be measured by magnetic resonance spectroscopy, is considered a marker of neuronal integrity. Several magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies have found evidence of N-acetylaspartate deficits in schizophrenia.
We employed a high-pressure liquid chromatography method to determine N-acetylaspartate and N-acetylaspartylglutamate in postmortem brain tissues taken from a well-defined series of psychiatric cases. N-acetylaspartate and N-acetylaspartylglutamate concentrations were measured in superior temporal and frontal cortices of patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression and control subjects.
N-acetylaspartate was significantly decreased below controls in superior temporal cortex in schizophrenia (p <.01) and bipolar disorder (p <.01), but no deficits were found in frontal cortex. N-acetylaspartylglutamate was significantly decreased only in superior temporal cortex in schizophrenia.
The results are consistent with evidence of superior temporal cortex abnormalities in schizophrenia. The finding in bipolar disorder suggests that temporal cortex N-acetylaspartate deficits may be a common feature of psychotic disorders.
N - 乙酰天门冬氨酰谷氨酸存在于神经元中，其代谢产物N - 乙酰天门冬氨酸可通过磁共振波谱法进行测量，被认为是神经元完整性的标志物。多项磁共振波谱研究已发现精神分裂症患者存在N - 乙酰天门冬氨酸缺乏的证据。
我们采用高压液相色谱法测定了一系列明确的精神病例死后脑组织中的N - 乙酰天门冬氨酸和N - 乙酰天门冬氨酰谷氨酸。测量了精神分裂症、双相情感障碍、抑郁症患者以及对照受试者颞上回和额叶皮质中的N - 乙酰天门冬氨酸和N - 乙酰天门冬氨酰谷氨酸浓度。
精神分裂症（p <.01）和双相情感障碍（p <.01）患者颞上回皮质中的N - 乙酰天门冬氨酸显著低于对照组，但额叶皮质未发现缺乏。仅精神分裂症患者颞上回皮质中的N - 乙酰天门冬氨酰谷氨酸显著降低。
结果与精神分裂症患者颞上回皮质异常的证据一致。双相情感障碍的研究结果表明，颞叶皮质N - 乙酰天门冬氨酸缺乏可能是精神障碍的一个共同特征。
