Hydrogen proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy of hippocampus of patients with general paresis of insane and Alzheimer's disease

Objective To investigate the characteristics of hydrogen proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) in bilateral hippocampus in patients with general paresis of insane (GPI) and Alzheimer' s disease (AD). Methods The metabolic ratios of N-acetylaspartate/creatine (NAA/Cr), choline (Cho) /Cr, NAA/Cho, Cho/NAA and myo-inositol (mI) /Cr in bilateral hippocampus were determined by 1H-MRS in 35 patients with GPI, 27 patients with AD and 38 normal controls (NC), and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment scale (MoCA) scores were evaluated on the same day. Results The NAA/Cr in bilateral hippocampus of patients with GPI and AD was significantly lower than that of the NC (left: 1.48±0.25, 1.52±0.28 and 1.71±0.36, F=5.928, P=0.004; right: 1.47±0.38, 1.62±0.36 and 1.82±0.42, F=7.309, P=0.001). The Cho/NAA in right hippocampus of patients with GPI (0.68±0.48) was significantly higher than that of the AD patients (0.49±0.15) and NC (0.53±0.14, P=0.024, P=0.045). There was no significant correlation between the metabolic ratios in bilateral hippocampus of patients with GPI and AD and the scores of MMSE and MoCA. Conclusion Patients with GPI and AD have neuronal dysfunction in bilateral hippocampus. Key words: Neurosyphilis; Alzheimer disease; Hippocampus; Magnetic resonance spectroscopy