Changes in the distribution of the proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) observed metabolites N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), total-choline (Cho), and total-creatine (Cre) in the entire intracranial corticospinal tract (CST) including the primary motor cortex were evaluated in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The study included 38 sporadic definite-ALS subjects and 70 age-mat...

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies in schizophrenia have revealed consistently reduced N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) levels in chronic patients, but not in recent-onset patients. Studies on the relationship between this marker and disease duration have commonly been negative, although it is also true that they have been conducted in patients with long-standing disease. We compared NAA levels in...

BACKGROUND Benign adult familial myoclonic epilepsy (BAFME) is a rare form of epilepsy syndrome. The pathogenesis of BAFME remains unclear, though it seems to involve dysfunction of the cerebellum. OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to use proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS) to investigate whether neurochemical changes underlie abnormal brain function in BAFME. METHODS T...

BACKGROUND Reduced N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA) levels in magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) may visualize axonal damage even in the normal appearing white matter (NAWM). Demyelination and axonal degeneration are a hallmark in multiple sclerosis (MS). OBJECTIVE To define the extent of axonal degeneration in the NAWM in the remote from focal lesions in patients with relapsing-remitting (RRMS) a...

OBJECTIVE To apply in vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging estimates of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), a neuronal marker, to clarify the relative contribution of neuronal and glial changes to the widespread volume deficit of cortical gray matter seen in patients with schizophrenia with magnetic resonance images. METHODS Ten male veterans meeting criteria of the DSM-IV, for schizophre...

BACKGROUND Nucleic acid amplification (NAA) testing for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) offers improved diagnostic accuracy, compared with smear microscopy, in differentiating MTB from other mycobacteria. We aimed to evaluate the reliability and projected impact of NAA testing in patients with acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear-positive respiratory samples. METHODS We identified a retrospective c...

N-acetyl-aspartyl-glutamate (NAAG) and its hydrolysis product N-acetyl-L-aspartate (NAA) are among the most important brain metabolites. NAA is a marker of neuron integrity and viability, while NAAG modulates glutamate release and may have a role in neuroprotection and synaptic plasticity. Investigating on a quantitative basis the role of these metabolites in brain metabolism in vivo by magneti...

Introduction NAA (N-acetyl-aspartate) is the second most abundant molecule in the CNS (after glutamate), its MRS signal is commonly used as a putative marker of viable neurones, and yet little is known about its function. Furthermore, recent data from cell culture has raised the possibility of an additional cellular contribution of NAA from nonneuronal origins, principally in isolated mature ol...

Electrochemical behaviors of 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) at an ionic liquid N-butylpyridinium hexafluorophosphate (BPPF6/CPE) modified carbon paste electrode was investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and further used for NAA sample determination. The experimental results showed that NAA at both the bared and the modified electrode showed an irreversible oxidation process, but at the modifi...