MR spectroscopy and imaging-derived measurements in the supplementary motor area for biomarkers of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
- 17 February 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Neurological Sciences
- Vol. 42 (10), 4257-4263
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-021-05107-3
Abstract
The diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) requires both upper and lower motor neuron signs. However, quite a few patients with ALS lack the upper motor neuron sign during the disease. This study sought to investigate whether metabolites, including glutamate (Glu), N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), and gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA), in the supplementary motor area (SMA) measured by magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), could be a surrogate biomarker for ALS. Twenty-five patients with ALS and 12 controls underwent 3.0-T MR scanning, which measured Glu, NAA, and GABA. Finally, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were created and the area under curve (AUC) was calculated to assess the diagnostic power. Logistic regression analysis revealed the usefulness of both Glu and NAA for the differentiation of ALS from controls (Glu, P = 0.009; NAA, P = 0.033). The ratio of Glu to NAA or GABA was significantly increased in patients with ALS (Glu/NAA, P = 0.027; Glu/GABA, P = 0.003). Both the AUCs were more than 0.7, with high specificity but low sensitivity. The present findings might indicate that both the Glu/NAA and the Glu/GABA ratios in the SMA could be potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of ALS.Keywords
Funding Information
- the Research Committee of CNS Degenerative Diseases
- Uehara Memorial Foundation
This publication has 41 references indexed in Scilit:
- Multimodal MRI as a diagnostic biomarker for amyotrophic lateral sclerosisAnnals of Clinical and Translational Neurology, 2014
- Molecular Imaging of Microglial Activation in Amyotrophic Lateral SclerosisPLOS ONE, 2012
- Longitudinal diffusion tensor imaging in amyotrophic lateral sclerosisBMC Neuroscience, 2012
- Decreased motor cortex γ-aminobutyric acid in amyotrophic lateral sclerosisNeurology, 2012
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosisThe Lancet, 2011
- In vitroneurotoxic properties and excitatory aminoacids concentration in the cerebrospinal fluid of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients. Relationship with the degree of certainty of disease diagnosesActa Neurologica Scandinavica, 2010
- Changes of resting state brain networks in amyotrophic lateral sclerosisExperimental Neurology, 2009
- Reduced NAA in motor and non-motor brain regions in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a cross-sectional and longitudinal study.Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, 2004
- Functional Connectivity in Single and Multislice Echoplanar Imaging Using Resting-State FluctuationsNeuroImage, 1998
- Functional connectivity in the motor cortex of resting human brain using echo‐planar mriMagnetic Resonance in Medicine, 1995