Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy of the Cervical Spine in ALS and Pre-Symptomatic SOD1 Positive People

John D. Carew^1,2, Govind Nair³, Sharon Usher⁴, Xiaoping P. Hu³, Michael Benatar⁴

We studied MRS in the cervical spinal cord of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients, healthy controls, and people with a mutation in the SOD1 gene. Single voxel PRESS/CHESS MRS was used to measure NAA, choline, creatine, and myo-inositol. We found metabolic changes in both ALS and people positive for the SOD1 mutation. Among ALS patients, metabolite ratios correlate with clinical measures of disease severity. The findings in the SOD1 positive sample suggests that metabolic changes occur prior to the onset of clinical symptoms.