Neurology®
The most widely read and highly cited peer-reviewed Neurology journal
Quick Search
Advanced Search
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Correspondence:
Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when Correspondence are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Keller, M. A.
Right arrow Articles by Chang, L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Keller, M. A.
Right arrow Articles by Chang, L.
Related Collections
Right arrow MRS
Right arrow HIV
Right arrow HIV dementia
NEUROLOGY 2006;66:874-879
© 2006 American Academy of Neurology

Cerebral metabolites in HIV-infected children followed for 10 months with 1H-MRS

M. A. Keller, MD, T. N. Venkatraman, PhD, M. A. Thomas, PhD, A. Deveikis, MD, C. LoPresti, PhD, J. Hayes, RN, N. Berman, PhD, I. Walot, MD, T. Ernst, PhD and L. Chang, MD

From the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (M.A.K., T.N.V., J.H., N.B., I.W.), Torrance; University of California (M.A.T., C.L.), Los Angeles; Miller’s Children’s Hospital (A.D.), Long Beach, CA; and University of Hawaii at Manoa (T.E., L.C.), Honolulu.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Margaret A. Keller, Department of Pediatrics, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, 1000 W. Carson St., Box 468, Building N25, Torrance, CA 90502; e-mail: keller{at}labiomed.org

Background: Previous studies have shown that HIV-infected children have abnormal cerebral metabolites, measured by proton MR spectroscopy (1H MRS), but the stability of these measurements over time has not been described in HIV-infected children. The authors recently reported a study of cerebral metabolites in 20 HIV-infected children (6 to 16 years of age); the current study followed 12 of these children (10.0 years ± 3.7 years) and repeated the MR spectroscopy at 24.1 ± 3.7 weeks and 42.2 ± 3.5 weeks following the entry time with repeated neuropsychological testing.

Methods: 1H MR spectra were acquired at 1.5 T (GE Signa, PRESS localization, repetition time = 3,000 msec, echo time = 30 msec). Five brain regions were studied: right frontal white matter, left frontal white matter, right basal ganglia, right hippocampus, and midfrontal gray matter. The concentrations of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), choline (CHO), creatine (CR), and myo-inositol (mI) and the ratio of each metabolite to CR were determined.

Results: There were no changes in the metabolite concentrations or metabolite/CR ratios at the three time periods. Similarly, during this follow-up period, HIV-positive children showed no changes in clinical signs, HIV viral loads, CD4%, or CD4 counts, except for improved spatial memory with repeat testing.

Conclusion: In a clinically and neurologically stable group of HIV-infected children, cerebral metabolites were stable over a 10-month time period, suggesting that it is possible to assess changes in cerebral metabolites as a measure of cerebral health, but longer follow-up in a larger sample is needed.

Supported by a grant from the Pediatric AIDS Foundation and efforts by T.E. and L.C. were supported by NIDA (K02 DA 16991 and K24 DA 16170).

Disclosure: The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Received March 4, 2005. Accepted in final form November 30, 2005.