MRS NEUROMETABOLITES IN CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME, GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER

该子项目是利用NIH/NCRR资助的中心赠款提供的资源的许多研究子项目之一。子项目和研究者（PI）可能从另一个NIH来源获得了主要资金，因此可以在其他CRISP条目中表示。所列机构为中心，不一定是研究者所在机构。慢性疲劳综合征（CFS）是一种以严重疲劳和一系列相关症状为特征的衰弱性疾病，包括肌肉骨骼疼痛、咽喉痛、淋巴结触痛、新型头痛、注意力不集中和睡眠障碍。患者必须经历至少六个月的疲劳，并且必须同时有四个或更多的次要症状才能接受诊断。目前，CFS的诊断只有在排除其他医疗和精神疾病后才能做出。对于这种疾病没有科学有效的测试，也没有广泛接受的治疗方法。因此，临床医生在评估具有类似于CFS的不明原因和衰弱的身体和神经症状的患者时存在很大的不确定性。 在过去的3-4年中，我们的研究小组使用了一种称为质子磁共振光谱成像（1H MRSI）的脑成像技术来测量31名疑似CFS患者大脑中一些重要的脑化学物质或神经代谢物的水平。将这些神经代谢物的水平与健康志愿者的水平进行比较，发现约50%的CFS患者在特定的脑区域中具有异常水平的N-乙酰天冬氨酸（一种神经元标记物）和胆碱（一种细胞膜完整性标记物）。这一观察结果表明，1H MRSI，如果进一步发展，可以证明是一个可行的成像技术用于诊断CFS。 假设：通过MRSI得出的CFS患者的神经代谢特征将不同于：（1）广泛性焦虑症（GAD）患者，这是一种主要症状（例如注意力受损、疲劳、睡眠障碍）与CFS相当重叠的精神疾病;和（2）年龄和性别匹配的健康志愿者。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a debilitating disorder marked by severe fatigue and a constellation of associated symptoms, including musculoskeletal pain, sore throat, tender lymph nodes, headaches of a new type, impaired concentration, and sleep disturbances. Patients must experience the fatigue for at least six months and must concurrently have four or more of the secondary symptoms to receive a diagnosis. Currently, the diagnosis of CFS is made only after other medical and psychiatric conditions have been excluded. There are no scientifically valid tests for the illness, nor are there widely accepted cures. As a result, there is a great deal of uncertainty among clinicians when evaluating patients with unexplained and debilitating physical and neurological symptoms that resemble those of CFS. During the past 3-4 years, our research group has used a brain imaging technique known as proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (1H MRSI) to measure levels of a number of important brain chemicals or neurometabolites in the brain of 31 individuals suspected with CFS. Comparison of the levels of these neurometabolites with those of healthy volunteers showed that about 50% of CFS patients had abnormal levels of N-acetylaspartate, a neuronal marker, and choline, a marker of cell membrane integrity, in specific brain regions. This observation suggested that 1H MRSI, if further developed, could prove to be a viable imaging technique for use in the diagnosis of CFS. Hypothesis: The neurometabolic profile of CFS patients derived by MRSI will be distinct from: (1) patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), a psychiatric condition whose cardinal symptoms (e.g. impaired concentration, fatigue, sleep disturbance) considerably overlap with CFS; and (2) age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers.