REGIONAL METABOLIC ALTERATIONS IN ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE - AN IN-VITRO H-1-NMR STUDY OF THE HIPPOCAMPUS AND CEREBELLUM

The concentrations of selected metabolites in the hippocampus and cere bellum of 13 Alzheimer's diseased (AD) and four nondemented postmortem brains were measured using high resolution H-1 NMR spectroscopy. For both the hippocampal region and the cerebellum, the putative neuronal marker N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) was significantly lower in AD brains r elative to the nondemented brains. For the hippocampal region, the NAA concentration correlated inversely with semiquantitative assessments of neuronal loss and neurofibrillary tangles. The gamma-aminobutyric a cid levels in both hippocampus and cerebellum of an age- and a postmor tem interval-matched subset of AD brains were lower than those of the controls. Because the cerebellum is generally thought to be unaffected by AD, the NAA decrease in the Alzheimer cerebellum may be due to les ions of either the Alzheimer or non-Alzheimer type in contralateral ce rebrum.