Influence of work shift on glutamic acid and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) : evaluation with proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy at 3T

轮班等工作条件是人们抱怨失眠和白天过度困倦的一个众所周知的危险因素。我们用质子磁共振波谱(1H-MRS)在3T时比较了白班和轮班工人的脑内γ-氨基丁酸(GABA)、谷氨酸(Glu)、谷氨酰胺(Gln)和谷氨酸(Gln+Gln)水平。研究人群包括32名健康成年志愿者(16名日班工作人员和16名轮班工作人员)。在同一天的清晨和傍晚，每个受试者都接受了使用大型新闻发布会进行的MRS。在额叶和顶枕叶放置光谱体素(3.0 cm×3.0 cm×3.0 cm)。在傍晚早些时候，轮班组的额叶γ-氨基丁酸/肌酸比值显著低于日班组(1.885比0.875)。对于其他代谢物比率(Gln/Cr值和Glx/Cr值)，无论早晚节律，两组间均无显著差异。我们的初步发现表明，大脑中的GABA含量可能与不规律的工作时间表有关。

Working conditions such as shift work constitute a well-known risk factor for insomnia and excessive daytime sleepiness complaints. We compared brain gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamic acid (Glu), glutamine (Gln), and Glx (Glu+Gln) levels in day-shift versus alternate-shift workers with proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) at 3T. The study population consisted of 32 healthy adult volunteers (16 day-shift and 16 alternate-shift workers). Each subject underwent MRS conducted using a MEGA-PRESS sequence in the early morning and early evening on the same day. Spectroscopy voxels (3.0 cm×3.0 cm×3.0 cm) were placed in the frontal lobe and parieto-occipital lobe. The GABA/Cr ratio in the frontal lobe was significantly lower for the alternate-shift group than for the day-shift group in the early evening (1.885 vs. 0.875). For the other metabolite ratios (Gln/Cr andGlx/Cr), therewere no significant differences between the two groups regardless of morning or evening schedule. Our preliminary finding represents a possible alteration of GABA content in the brain related to an irregular work schedule.