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Abstract #2970

Towards in vivo neurochemical profiling of multiple sclerosis with MR spectroscopy at 7 Tesla: Cross-sectional assessment of frontal-cortex glutathione, GABA, and glutamate in individuals with relapsing-remitting and progressive multiple sclerosis

Kelley M. Swanberg1,2, Hetty Prinsen2, Robert K. Fulbright2, David Pitt3, Katherine Destefano3, Mary Bailey3, and Christoph Juchem1,2,3,4

1Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science, New York, NY, United States, 2Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States, 3Neurology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States, 4Radiology, Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science, New York, NY, United States

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease that damages the central nervous system and affects an estimated 2.3 million people worldwide. One potential key to understanding MS is investigating the metabolic distinctions between its relapsing-remitting (RR-MS) and progressive courses (P-MS). We obtained single-voxel metabolic 1H spectra at 7 Tesla from the frontal cortex of RR-MS and P-MS patients and controls to explore the effects of disease state on concentrations of brain metabolites like glutathione, GABA, glutamate, and N-acetyl aspartate (NAA). Our results suggest an age- and disease-related decrease in glutamate, as well as a disease-related decrease in NAA, in patients with P-MS relative to RR-MS and controls without MS. No disease-related changes in GSH or GABA were found. Our data underscore the importance of continued investigation into the potential physiological distinctions among various MS subtypes.

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