Radiology Department, Medical University of Bialystok, Poland.
Adv Med Sci. 2012 Jun 1;57(1):152-6. doi: 10.2478/v10039-012-0014-x.
The purpose of this study was to assess the role of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) in the detection of changes in cerebral metabolite levels in autistic children.
Study group consisted of 12 children, aged 8-15 years, who were under the care of Pediatric Neurology Department and Pediatric Rehabilitation Department of Medical University of Bialystok. The diagnosis of autism was established by neurologist, psychiatrist and psychologist in every case. All patients matched the clinical criteria of the disease according to International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10). The control group included 16 healthy children aged 7-17. 1H MRS was performed with a single-voxel method (TE-36, TR-1500, NEX-192). The volume of interest (VOI) was located in the frontal lobe regions, separately on each side.
We showed lower N-acetylaspartate/creatine (NAA/Cr), γ-aminobutyric acid /creatine (GABA/Cr) and glutamate/creatine (Glx/Cr) in the frontal lobes in the study group comparing with healthy controls. The ratio of myoinositol/creatine (mI/Cr) was increased in autistic children. No differences in choline/creatine (Cho/Cr) ratio in study group and controls were found. There was a correlation between age and NAA/Cr in autistic children (R=0.593 p=0.041). No significant differences in metabolite ratios between right and left hemisphere in ASD and controls were found.
(1)H MRS can provide important information regarding abnormal brain metabolism. Differences in NAA/Cr, GABA/Cr, Glx/Cr and mI/Cr may contribute to the pathogenesis of autism.
本研究旨在评估质子磁共振波谱（1H MRS）在检测自闭症儿童脑代谢物水平变化中的作用。
研究组由 12 名 8-15 岁的儿童组成，他们在比亚韦斯托克医科大学儿科神经病学系和儿科康复科接受治疗。自闭症的诊断由神经科医生、精神科医生和心理学家在每例病例中确定。所有患者均根据国际疾病分类和相关健康问题统计分类（ICD-10）的临床标准符合疾病的临床标准。对照组包括 16 名 7-17 岁的健康儿童。1H MRS 采用单体素方法（TE-36、TR-1500、NEX-192）进行。感兴趣区（VOI）位于额叶区域，分别位于每一侧。
与健康对照组相比，我们发现研究组额叶中的 N-乙酰天冬氨酸/肌酐（NAA/Cr）、γ-氨基丁酸/肌酐（GABA/Cr）和谷氨酸/肌酐（Glx/Cr）水平较低。自闭症儿童的肌醇/肌酐（mI/Cr）比值增加。研究组和对照组的胆碱/肌酐（Cho/Cr）比值无差异。自闭症儿童的年龄与 NAA/Cr 之间存在相关性（R=0.593，p=0.041）。在 ASD 和对照组中，左右半球之间的代谢物比值没有差异。
1H MRS 可以提供有关异常脑代谢的重要信息。NAA/Cr、GABA/Cr、Glx/Cr 和 mI/Cr 的差异可能有助于自闭症的发病机制。
