Abstract #1579

Gonen O, Brown S, Herbert J, Jaggi H, Inglese M, Spindler M

The primary-progressive type of multiple sclerosis (PPMS) affects a minority of patients diagnosed with this disease, and due to differing pathologies, the markers used for the more common types of MS cannot be used for therapeutic monitoring or prediction of the disease course in PPMS. In this study, 3D proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) was used to quantify the concentrations of 4 potential disease markers in eight PPMS patients and eight age and gender-matched controls. N-acetylaspartate (NAA) levels were found to be 16.9% lower in PPMS patients than in controls, whereas no significant difference was found in choline (Cho), creatine (Cr), or myo-inositol (mI) concentrations, and no significant correlations with EDSS or disease duration were found.