CHARACTERISTIC METABOLIC PROFILES REVEALED BY H-1-NMR SPECTROSCOPY FOR 3 TYPES OF HUMAN BRAIN AND NERVOUS-SYSTEM TUMORS

Cell culture techniques, high-resolution in vitro H-1 NMR spectroscopy , and chromatographic analyses were used to compare the properties of three types of human brain and nervous system tumours. Cell lines were immunocytochemically characterized at all stages in culture with spec ific antibodies, Intracellular metabolites present in cell extracts we re analysed by H-1 NMR spectroscopy and by high performance liquid chr omatography (HPLC), The spectra from meningiomas, neuroblastomas, and glioblastomas displayed, in addition to similarities - including the p resence of signals from leucine, isoleucine, valine, threonine, lactat e, acetate, glutamate, choline-containing compounds and glycine - cert ain distinguishing metabolic features, Spectra from meningiomas featur ed relatively high signals from alanine, Intense signals from creatine were present in neuroblastoma spectra, while in spectra from glioblas toma they were not detectable, We found statistically significant diff erences by H-1 NMR spectroscopy in the amounts of alanine, glutamate, creatine, phosphorylcholine and threonine among the types of tumours e xamined, HPLC determinations confirmed that there were also other meta bolites specific to a type of tumour, such as taurine, gamma-aminobuty ric acid, and serine, We suggest that these findings have potential re levance for the development of non-invasive diagnosis of tumour lineag e by H-1 NMR spectroscopy in vivo.