Frontal lobe in vivo P-31-MRS reveals gender differences in healthy controls, not in schizophrenics

Phosphorus-31 magnetic resonance spectroscopy (P-31-MRS) has gained much in terest in schizophrenia research in recent years since it allows the non-in vasive measurement of high-energy phosphates and phospholipids in vivo. How ever, until now only differences in metabolite concentrations between certa in brain areas of schizophrenic patients and healthy controls have been exa mined. We investigated the influence of gender on the concentrations of dif ferent phosphorus compounds. For this purpose, well-defined volumes in the frontal lobe of 32 healthy controls and 51 schizophrenic in-patients were e xamined with an image selected in vivo spectroscopy (ISIS) sequence on a wh ole-body scanner at 1.5 T. Healthy females exhibited increased values of in organic phosphate (P-i) and decreased values of phosphocreatine (PCr) in co mparison to their male counterparts. In schizophrenic patients such gender differences were not present. Thus, the results can be interpreted in the s ense that frontal energy demanding processes are enhanced in female compare d to male healthy volunteers; schizophrenia seems to reduce these gender di fferences. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.