To detect the metabolites of non-motor functional area in patients with Parkinson disease (PD) by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-MRS).

Forty-two PD patients (PD group) tested with unified PD rating scale (UPDRS) and 20 healthy controls(normal control group) were enrolled in this study. MRI and ¹H-MRS using a GE signa excite1.5T MR was obtained, and the ratios of metabolites such as N-acetylaspartate(NAA)/creatin(Cr), NAA/cholinecompounds(Cho) in the prefrontal lobe, hippocampus, cuneus gyrus and dorsal thalamus were compared. Correlations between brain metabolites and UPDRS were analyzed.

The levels of NAA/Cr, and NAA/Cho in bilateral dorsal thalamus, cuneus gyrus, hippocampus, prefrontal lobe in PD group were significantly lower than those in normal control group (P < 0.01). The level of Cho/Cr in right hippocampus, right cuneus gyrus, and right dorsal thalamus in PD group was significantly higher than that in normal control group (P < 0.05). The NAA/Cho in the left hippocampus (r=-0.388, P= 0.011) and left cuneus gyrus (r=-0.325, P= 0.036) was negatively correlated with UPDRS scores (P < 0.05).

There is extensive neuronal damage and some glial proliferation in the non-motor functional areas including prefrontal lobe, hippocampus, cuneus gyrus, anddorsal thalamus in the PD patients. The degree of damage in left hippocampus and left cuneus gyrus is positively correlated with the severity of the disease clinically.

Parkinson disease; Magnetic resonance spectroscopy; Brain metabolites