Regional and Gender Differences of Cerebral Energy Metabolism Measured by 31P Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Purpose: Phosphorous magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31P-MRS) allows the analysis of various energy metabolites in vivo. The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of brain region, hemisphere, age and gender on the 31P-MRS metabolism. Methods: 125 healthy volunteers (64 women, 61 men; between 20 and 85 years) were examined with a 3 Tesla three-dimensional 31P-MRS sequence of the supratentorial brain. Data post-processing was performed with the AMARES algorithm of the software jMRUI. The metabolite ratios PCr/ATP, Pi/ATP and PCr/Pi from the brain areas frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, temporal lobe and basal ganglia of both hemispheres were generated and compared. Results: For all metabolite ratios significant regional differences and in several regions gender differences were found. In some brain regions and for some metabolites hemispheric differences were detected. In addition chances with ageing were found, which differed between women and men. Conclusion: The present results indicate that the 31P-MRS metabolism varies throughout the brain, with age and between genders. This study displays an important foundation for the design and the interpretation of future 31P-MRS studies under physiological conditions or on patients with various cerebral diseases.