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Brain Changes with Aging: MR Spectroscopy at Supraventricular Plane Shows Differences between Women and Men¹

¹ From the Dept of Radiology, Univ Hosp Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9713 GZ Groningen, the Netherlands (P.E.S., M.O.); Dept of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands (T.d.H., S.E.V., M.M.B.B., A.H.); and Dept of Health Physics, Istituto Europeo di Oncologia, Milan, Italy (D.O.). Received Nov 27, 2001; revision requested Feb 1, 2002; final revision received Jun 10; accepted Jul 16. Rotterdam Scan Study supported by Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) and Health Research and Development Council (ZON). M.M.B.B. supported as a fellow of Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Address correspondence to P.E.S. (e-mail: p.e.sijens@rad.azg.nl).

PURPOSE: To assess the effect of aging on the proportions of choline (Cho), creatine, and N-acetylaspartate (NAA) in the brains of elderly women and men.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A transverse plane above the ventricle of the brain was mapped with magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Examinations were performed in 1995–1996 with 271 healthy subjects (age range, 60–90 years; mean age, 73 years) and were repeated 4 years later (1999–2000). Student t tests were used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS: Difference analysis of the changes in 4 years (paired data) reproduced the decrease in Cho in women only (2.9% per year, P < .001) that had been indicated with intersubject correlation analyses. Decreases in NAA, though significant in both men and women according to age correlation analyses (P < .01 for both), did not reach significance. The resulting sex difference in the Cho/NAA ratio at a mean age of 77 years, while not yet significant at a mean age of 73 years, was especially manifest in the posterior half of the plane analyzed.

CONCLUSION: Increasing sex differences in Cho/NAA ratios in a supraventricular plane indicate that brain metabolite levels differ between women and men at advanced age.

© RSNA, 2003

Index terms: Aging • Brain, metabolism, 18.12145 • Magnetic resonance (MR), spectroscopy, 18.12145

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