OBJECTIVE To examine whether frontal lobe abnormalities on magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) correlate with poor letter fluency (LF). METHODS Twenty-five patients with ALS (20 with definite, probable, or possible ALS and 5 with progressive muscular atrophy) performed an LF task, involving F word generation in 1 minute, and underwent MRS. Comparisons ...

Lower levels of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), a marker of axonal damage, have been found in the normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients with low physical disability. However, its relation to the clinical status of these patients remains unclear. We explored the association between NAA levels [normalized to creatine (Cr), NAA/Cr] and a cognitive ...

PURPOSE Although many previous studies have attempted to identify differences between atopic asthma (AA) and non-atopic asthma (NAA), they have mainly focused on the difference of each variable of lung function and airway inflammation. The aim of this study was to evaluate relationships between lung function, bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR), and the exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) levels in chil...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The most abundant metabolite visible by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in human brain is N-acetylaspartate (NAA), which is often used as a marker of viable neurons. NAA is anecdotally reported to be elevated in children with sickle cell disease (SCD), even though patients can have brain injury or atrophy. We measured NAA levels rigorously in SCD patients to ...

Neuroblastoma is the most commonly extra-cranial solid tumor of childhood frequently diagnosed. The nervous system-specific metabolite N-acetylaspartate (NAA) is synthesized from aspartate and acetyl-CoA in neurons, it is among the most abundant metabolites present in the central nervous system (CNS) and appears to be involved in many CNS disorders. The functional significance of the high NAA c...

To characterize the molecular mechanisms of N-acetylaspartate (NAA) metabolism following traumatic brain injury (TBI), we measured the NAA, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and adenosine diphosphate (ADP) concentrations and calculated the ATP/ADP ratio at different times from impact, concomitantly evaluating the gene and protein expressions controlling NAA homeostasis (the NAA synthesizing and degr...

To compare metabolite ratios in the posterior cingulate with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) test scores in patients with mild or moderate Alzheimer disease and in controls. Methods: We evaluated 29 patients with mild or moderate Alzheimer disease and 15 controls by proton spectroscopy with the voxel located in the posterior cingulate. The MMSE was applied to all patients and controls....

Four Na+ -dependent transporters of neutral amino acids (NAA) are known to exist in the abluminal membranes (brain side) of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). This article describes the kinetic characteristics of systems A, ASC, and N that, together with the recently described Na+ -dependent system for large NAA (Na+ -LNAA), provide a basis for understanding the functional organization of the BBB. ...

Micropropagation of Kainth using nodal explants was carried out in tissue culture laboratory, Department of Fruit Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana during 2011-13. The effect of various media {1/2 MS (M1), MS (M2) and WPM (M3)} and growth regulators (BAP, IBA and NAA) on establishment, proliferation and rooting was studied. Per cent necrotic culture was found to be influenced by...