MRS NEUROMETABOLITES IN CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME, GAD AND HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS

这个子项目是许多研究子项目中利用 资源由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供。子项目和 调查员(PI)可能从NIH的另一个来源获得了主要资金， 并因此可以在其他清晰的条目中表示。列出的机构是 该中心不一定是调查人员的机构。 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疾病，包括肌肉骨骼疼痛、喉咙痛、淋巴结痛、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得到诊断。目前，只有在排除了其他医学和精神疾病后，才能诊断出CFS。目前还没有对这种疾病进行科学有效的测试，也没有被广泛接受的治疗方法。因此，临床医生在评估具有与CFS相似的不明原因和虚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年里，我们的研究小组使用了一种名为质子磁共振光谱成像(1H MRSI)的脑成像技术，测量了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，发现大约50%的CFS患者的特定脑区N-乙酰天冬氨酸和胆碱水平异常，N-乙酰天冬氨酸是神经元标志，胆碱是细胞膜完整性的标志。这一观察表明，如果进一步发展，1H MRSI可能被证明是一种可行的成像技术，用于CFS的诊断。 假设：磁共振成像得出的CFS患者的神经代谢特征将有别于：(1)广泛性焦虑症(GAD)患者，这是一种主要症状(如注意力不集中、疲劳、睡眠障碍)与CFS有很大重叠的精神疾病；以及(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.