in vivo MRSI Confirmation of Post Mortem Results for Metabolic Changes in Parkinsons Disease

Adriane Grger¹, Rupert Kolb¹, Rita Schfer¹, Uwe Klose¹

Parkinsons disease (PD) is a frequent neurological disorder and cause of neuron loss is not understood yet. Discovering metabolic changes within the substantia nigra (SN) could help for early diagnosis. In previous work we performed 3D-MRSI in SN region and found significant differences in biochemical profiles of PD patients compared to age-matched controls and compared to patients with atypical Parkinsonian syndromes. These phenomenological results did not allow biochemical interpretation. Therefore, we refined the analysis of obtained 3D-MRSI spectra and found the expected decreases of NAA, creatine, glutathione and dopamine in PD patients in good agreement with post mortem data.