Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy of normal appearing white matter in asymptomatic relatives of multiple sclerosis patients.

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy of normal appearing white matter (NAWM) was performed in 25 first-degree relatives of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). In relatives of MS patients, insignificant trends in the NAA/Cho ratio (to be lower) and in the Cho/Cr ratio (to be higher) were found when compared with healthy controls. These results demonstrated that there are only minimal, insignificant changes in commonly identified metabolite concentrations in NAWM of relatives of MS patients when compared with healthy subjects.