Pharmacopsychiatry 2003; 36 - 83
DOI: 10.1055/s-2003-825334

Abnormal phospholipid metabolism in Alzheimer's disease: 31P-spectroscopy study of the pre-frontal cortex

WF Gattaz 1, P Wacker 1, PV Nunes 1, CMC Bottino 2, CC Castro 3, GG Cerri 3, OV Forlenza 1
  • 1Laboratory of Neuroscience, and
  • 2Old Age Research Group (PROTER), Department and Institute of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Brazil
  • 3Division of Neuroimaging, Heart Institute, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, S.P., Brazil

We investigated the in vivo intracerebral phospholipid metabolism in 16 patients with probable AD and 18 age-matched controls through 31P-MR Spectroscopy of the pre-frontal cortex. Cognitive assessment was performed by the CAMDEX schedule.. Results: PME resonance was significantly higher and PDE was lower among AD than controls. PME correlaqted negatively with cognitive performance. Our findings in the pre-frontal cortex suggest that reduced membrane phospholipid turnover may be a widespread cerebral phenomenon in AD, since the pre-frontal cortex is a region not as severely affected by the neurodegenerative process as temporal and parietal areas, specially in early dementia. In addition, it is to our knowledge the first in vivo study to establish a link between disordered cerebral phospholipid metabolism and the cognitive burden of AD.