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. ...

N-acetylaspartate (NAA) is an amino acid abundant in the brain and claimed the role of a biomarker of neuropsychiatric disorders. The basic ways of NAA concentration measurement in the brain are magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and chromatography. The review examined the relationship between NAA concentrations in different parts of the brain and biological...

We review how polyreactive natural IgM autoantibodies (IgM-NAA) protect the host from invading micro-organisms and host neo-antigens that are constantly being produced by oxidation mechanisms and cell apoptosis. Second, we discuss how IgM-NAA and IgM anti-leukocyte antibodies (IgM-ALA) inhibits autoimmune inflammation by anti-idiotypic mechanisms, enhancing removal of apoptotic cells, masking n...

To the Editor—We thank Dr. Dylewski [1] for the feedback on our article [2]. It is understood that the usefulness of nucleic acid amplification (NAA) tests varies with the prevalence of the disease among the population being tested. In our article, we do not advocate NAA testing for all specimens submitted for culture. For patients whose specimens have negative acid–fast bacilli (AFB) smear res...

Demyelination and axonal degeneration caused by multiple sclerosis (MS) exist in the white matter and not only in the lesion area. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) could provide a unique insight into metabolic changes in the normal appearing white matter (NAWM). To evaluate the subtle axonal degeneration and delineate the spatial distribution of metabolite abnormalities in the NAWM in pati...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to use Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) to investigate whether patients with chronic schizophrenia have different brain metabolite levels in the temporal cortex and thalamus than drug-naive first-episode patients. METHOD We compared right-handed male first-episode patients (n=13) and chronic schizophrenic cases (n=15) with gender- and handedness-matche...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical role of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) in the diagnosis of acute cerebral infarction. Using databases available at the Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University (Zhengzhou, China), the medical records of 47 patients with acute cerebral infarction treated between April 2010 and March 2012 were retrospectively revi...

BACKGROUND Neuroprotective effects of lithium (Li) have been well documented in tissue cultures and animal models, whereas human data continue to be limited. Previous studies investigating the association between Li treatment and brain N-acetylaspartate (NAA), a putative neuronal marker, showed mixed results because of methodological heterogeneity. METHODS To investigate the effects of Li on ...

OBJECTIVE Natural autoantibodies (NAAs) against MPO exist in normal human plasma. In the current study, the immune characteristics of MPO-NAA and MPO-ANCA were examined and compared with the aim to investigate the pathogenesis of MPO-ANCA. METHODS MPO-NAAs were affinity purified from normal plasma of five healthy blood donors and one batch of IVIG. MPO-ANCAs were purified from plasma of 10 pa...

PURPOSE Our purpose was to evaluate cerebral glioma grade by using normal side creatine (Cr) as an internal reference in multi-voxel 1H-MR spectroscopy. MATERIALS AND METHODS We examined 25 adult patients with glial brain tumors. Ratios of maximum Cho/Cr (normal) (max- Cho/Cr(n)) and minimum NAA/Cr(normal) (min-NAA/ Cr(n)) were determined using Cr levels in the normal parenchyma. In addition, m...