Longitudinal study of the substantia nigra in Parkinson disease: A high-field (1) H-MR spectroscopy imaging study
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Updated: Apr 6, 2026
Standardized Data Acquisition for Neuromelanin-Sensitive Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Substantia Nigra
Published on: September 8, 2021
Navid Seraji-Bozorgzad1,2, Fen Bao1,2, Edwin George1,2
1The Sastry Foundation Advanced Imaging Laboratory, Department of Neurology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA.
Introduction:
The value of biomarkers in early diagnosis and development of therapeutics in Parkinson's disease (PD) is well established.
Methods:
We used proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy in a prospective, longitudinal study of 23 patients with early PD, naïve to dopaminergic therapy, and six age-matched healthy controls to examine the temporal changes in metabolic profile of substantia nigra over a period of 3 months.
Results:
N-acetyl aspartate to creatine ratio at month 3 was compared with baseline values in the PD and control groups, as well as the side-to-side difference of the ratio at baseline. By month 3, n-acetyl aspartate to creatine ratio had decreased by 4.4% in patients with PD (P = 0.024), without a concomitant change in healthy controls. The side-to-side asymmetry was significantly higher in the PD group (16.7%) vs. healthy controls (1.6%, P = 0.0024).
Conclusion:
Estimation of change in the n-acetyl aspartate to creatine ratio appears to be a fast, quantifiable, and reliable marker of dopaminergic neuronal viability in PD.
