Medical Physics Laboratory, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece.
First Department of Neurology, Aeginition Hospital, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11522 Athens, Greece.
J Integr Neurosci. 2022 Apr 24;21(3):87. doi: 10.31083/j.jin2103087.
Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) has contributed important academic insights in motor neuron diseases (MNDs), particularly in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Over the past three decades momentous methodological advances took place, including the emergence of high-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) platforms, multi-voxel techniques, whole-brain protocols, novel head-coil designs, and a multitude of open-source imaging suites. Technological advances in MRS are complemented by important conceptual developments in MND, such as the recognition of the importance of extra-motor brain regions, multi-timepoint longitudinal study designs, assessment of asymptomatic mutation carriers, description of genotype-associated signatures, and the gradual characterisation of non-ALS MND phenotypes. We have conducted a systematic review of published MRS studies in MND to identify important emerging research trends, key lessons from pioneering studies, and stereotyped shortcomings. We also sought to highlight notable gaps in the current literature so that research priorities for future studies can be outlined. While MRS remains relatively underutilised in MND compared to other structural, diffusivity and functional imaging modalities, our review suggests that MRS can not only advance our academic understanding of MND biology, but has a multitude of practical benefits for clinical and pharmaceutical trial applications.
磁共振波谱（MRS）在运动神经元疾病（MNDs），特别是肌萎缩侧索硬化症（ALS）的研究中提供了重要的学术见解。在过去的三十年中，发生了重大的方法学进展，包括高磁场磁共振成像（MRI）平台、多体素技术、全脑方案、新型头线圈设计以及众多开源成像套件的出现。MRS 的技术进步与 MND 中的重要概念发展相辅相成，例如认识到运动外脑区的重要性、多时间点纵向研究设计、对无症状突变携带者的评估、描述与基因型相关的特征以及逐渐描述非 ALS MND 表型。我们对 MND 中的已发表 MRS 研究进行了系统综述，以确定重要的新兴研究趋势、开创性研究的关键经验教训和常见的缺点。我们还试图突出当前文献中的显著差距，以便为未来的研究确定研究重点。虽然与其他结构、弥散和功能成像模式相比，MRS 在 MND 中的应用相对较少，但我们的综述表明，MRS 不仅可以促进我们对 MND 生物学的学术理解，而且对临床和药物试验应用具有多种实际益处。
