P-31 MAGNETIC-RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPY OF HUMAN LIVER IN ELDERLY PATIENTS - CHANGES ACCORDING TO NUTRITIONAL-STATUS AND INFLAMMATORY STATE

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) was used to determine the phosph orylated metabolite content in the liver of elderly patients in variou s nutritional states: normal, with protein deprivation, and with acute inflammatory syndrome. P-31-MRS investigations were performed at 1.5 T, and localized liver spectra were recorded using a two-dimensional c hemical shift imaging sequence. Comparison to control spectra recorded on 10 healthy volunteers (age, 30.5 +/- 2.1 years) showed that the ag ing process does not significantly modify P-31-MRS liver spectra. Pati ents with protein deprivation exhibited a higher value than controls f or the phosphomonoesters/nucleoside triphosphates (PME/NTP) ratio (P < .05). This increase was not due to the decrease of NTP, since the rat io of inorganic phosphate to NTP (P-i/NTP) remained constant. A decrea se in the phosphodiesters to NTP (PDE/NTP) ratio (P < .04) contributed to the observed increase in the PME/PDE ratio (P < .01). In contrast, no significant difference in P-31-MRS spectra was found between elder ly patients with hypoalbuminemia associated with inflammatory syndrome and the control group. We conclude that elderly patients with protein deprivation displayed changes in the level of phosphorylated metaboli tes in the liver that were not observed in the case of inflammatory sy ndrome despite lower serum albumin (Alb) concentrations. Copyright (C) 1996 by W.B. Saunders Company