Abstract #1415

Longitudinal metabolite trajectories in the midfrontal gray matter in normally developing South African children

Martha J Holmes¹, Frances C Robertson¹, Francesca Little², Mark F Cotton³, Els Dobbels³, Andre JW van der Kouwe^4,5, Barbara Laughton³, and Ernesta M Meintjes¹

¹MRC/UCT Medical Imaging Research Unit, Department of Human Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa, ²Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa, ³Children’s Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Unit, Department of Paediatrics & Child Health, Tygerberg Children’s Hospital and Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa, ⁴A.A. Martinos Centre for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States, ⁵Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) measures changes in localized brain metabolism that occur alongside structural and functional development. Well-described trajectories of major metabolites with age provide a benchmark of normal brain maturation. In a longitudinal study, we examined the trajectories of NAA, choline and creatine in normally developing South African children at 5, 7 and 9 years. We found age-related increases in NAA and creatine levels, and constant choline levels in the midfrontal gray matter. Since no gender or ethnicity effects were observed, these results are generalizable to a wide pediatric population against which pathology and abnormal development may be compared.

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