HIGH-ENERGY PHOSPHATE-METABOLISM IN THE FRONTAL LOBES OF PATIENTS WITH PANIC DISORDER DETECTED BY PHASE-ENCODED P-31-MRS

Using phosphorus-31 magnetic resonance spectroscopy (P-31-MRS), we ana lyzed the brain phosphorous metabolism in 18 patients with panic disor der (PD) and in 18 sex-, age-, and handedness-matched normal controls (NC), All patients were receiving ongoing drug treatments for PD, The evaluation of phosphorous metabolism in the whole frontal lobes reveal ed no significant differences between the patients and controls in P-3 1 metabolite levels, although the PD patients showed slightly decrease d inorganic phosphate (Pi) concentration of the frontal lobes, Moreove r, we found a significant asymmetry (left > right) of phosphocreatine (PCr) concentration in the frontal lobes in the patients with PD, sugg esting that abnormalities of phosphorous metabolism are present in the frontal lobes of PD patients, Two patients in whom a limited panic ep isode occurred during measurements showed frontal lobe intracellular p H higher than that in the other patients and that in the NC, suggestin g respiratory gaseous alkalosis due to hyperventilation in the anxiety state. P-31-MRS has potential for application in the assessment of br ain abnormalities and anxiety state, such as that accompanied by hyper ventilation, in PD patients.