Comparative study of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy on frontal lobe between patients with paranoid schizophrenia and patients with bipolar mania

Abstract

Objective To compare biochemical characteristics of the frontal lobe tissue between patients with paranoid schizophrenia and patients with bipolar mania by using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy （ ^1 H MRS）. Methods The ratios of N-Acetylaspartate （NAA） , choline（CHo） and myoinositol（mI） to creatine （Cr） were measured using a 3.0 T GE Signa EXCITE MR system in 25 patients with paranoid schizophrenia, 20 patients with bipolar mania and 32 healthy subjects matched for age, gender, and years of education. ANOVA and partial correlation analysis were used for statistic process. Cerebral asymmetry of frontal lobe metabolism were also analyzed. Results Patients with paranoid schizophrenia presented markedly elevated Cho/Cr in left frontal lobe regions when compared to patients with bipolar mania and normal controls （ 1.14 ± 0. 14,1.06 ± 0.08,1.04 ± 0.14, respectively, P = 0.03, P = 0.01 ） , but patients with bipolar mania showed no significant difference with normal controls （ P 〉 0.05 ）. There were no significant difference in NAA/Cr , mI/Cr for left frontal lobe regions , and NAA/Cr, Cho/Cr, mI/Cr for right frontal lobe among the groups （ all P 〉 0.05 ）. The lateralization index of NAA/ Cr, Cho/Cr in frontal lobe region in three groups had no significant difference compared with 1.0 （ all P 〉 0.05 ）. No correlation were found between metabolite and symptoms scale scores, disease course. Conclusion Elevation of Cho/Cr in left frontal lobe regions may be special to patients with paranoid schizophrenia. Key words: Schizophrenia; Bipolar disorder; Frontal lobe; Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy