Alteration of Brain Metabolites in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes &/or Major Depression Measured by Proton MR Spectroscopy at 3T

Shaolin Yang^1,2, Olusola Ajilore¹, Minjie Wu³, Melissa Lamar¹, Anand Kumar¹

Type 2 diabetes and major depression are disorders that are mutual risk factors for each other. In order to understand the potentially shared pathophysiological mechanisms of these disorders, we examined their neurochemical basis using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy at 3T. By measuring metabolites in five brain regions (anterior cingulate cortex, bilateral frontal white matter, and bilateral subcortical regions that encompassed caudate nucleus) within four different subject groups (healthy control, depressed, diabetic, and diabetic depressed), we found alteration of glutamate and glutamine, choline, and myo-inositol between these patient groups.