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Updated: Jun 27, 2026

Histological Examination of Mitochondrial Morphology in a Parkinson's Disease Model
Published on: June 23, 2023
Brain metabolism differs in Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease dementia
H Randall Griffith1, Jan A den Hollander, Ozioma C Okonkwo
1Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA. rlgriffith@uabmc.edu
Background:
Few comparative studies exist of metabolic brain changes among neurodegenerative illnesses. We compared brain metabolic abnormalities in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and in Parkinson's disease with dementia (PDD) as measured by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS).
Methods:
Twelve patients with idiopathic PDD, 22 patients with probable mild AD, and 61 healthy older controls underwent posterior cingulate MRS.
Results:
Patients with AD exhibited reduced N-acetyl aspartate (NAA)/creatine (Cr) (P < .05) and increased choline (Cho)/Cr (P < .05) and myo-inositol (mI)/Cr (P < .01) compared with controls. Patients with PDD exhibited reduced NAA/Cr (P < .05) and glutamate (Glu)/Cr (P < .01) compared with controls. There was reduced Glu/Cr in PDD compared with AD (P < .01).
Conclusions:
Patients with AD and patients with PDD exhibited distinct brain metabolic MRS profiles. Findings suggest that comparison of brain MRS profiles across dementias provides useful direction for future study.
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