Hippocampal atrophy and levels of posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) metabolites in Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia and normal cognitive

Abstract

Introduction: Dementia defined as an acquired condition marked by multiple cognitive impairments. The most prevalent type is Alzheimer's disease, followed by vascular dementia. Studies have examined hippocampal atrophy and its relationship to aging and dementia. This study aimed to calculate the amount of hippocampal volume loss associated with dementia, also a,nxto examine the possible role of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) in common type of dementia.Methods: This study compared hippocampal volume measures and metabolites level in posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) between Alzheimer's disease patients, vascular dementia patients, and controls using volumetric-based MR and 1H-MR spectroscopy. Metabolite levels were calculated from the peak integral value of the metabolite N-Acetyl Aspartate (NAA) (2 ppm), Myo-inositol (MI) (3.5 ppm), Cholin (Cho) (3.2 ppm), and Creatin (Cr) (3 ppm), then a comparison was made to the levels of brain metabolites in the form of: NAA / Cr, Cho / Cr, and MI / Cr.Results: Between Alzheimer's disease and control, a significant difference was observed in the total volume of the hippocampus of 20.45 % (p = 0.004). The comparison of brain metabolite levels in PCC patients with Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, and control subjects revealed no statistically significant differences in the levels of Cholin, Creatine, NAA, MyoInositol, Cho / Cr, NAA / Cr, and mI/ Cr for any of the metabolites.Conclusion: There was a significant difference in the mean total size of the hippocampus between patients with Alzheimer's disease and controls, but not in the PCC metabolites measured by MR spectroscopy.