Abstract Details

Title Investigating proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy in African American and Caucasian multiple sclerosis patients

Topic Multiple Sclerosis

Presentation(s) MS and CNS Inflammatory Disease Posters (7:00 AM-5:00 PM)

Poster/Presentation
Number 164

Objective

To investigate the differences in magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) measures between African American (AA) and Caucasian (CA) multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. We are investigating the role of N-acetylaspartate (NAA) in these 2 groups of patients.

Background Magnetic resonance spectroscopy is a non-invasive specialized imaging technique used to analyze neurometabolite levels and assess MS disease course. The main metabolite, N-acetylaspartate (NAA) is a marker of neuronal integrity. It is well established that AA patients with MS (AAMS) tend to experience more aggressive disease course than CA with MS (CAMS).

Design/Methods One hundred three MS patients were included in this cross-sectional MRI study: 52 CAMS (mean age±SD: 43.39±11.14, mean DD±SD: 9.65±7.39) and 51 AAMS (mean age±SD: 41.08±9.78, mean DD±SD: 7.13±4.88). Whole brain MRI scans were performed on a SIEMENS 3T Verio system and the following sequences were acquired: 3D-T1W magnetization-prepared-rapid-gradient-echo (MPRAGE) images; T2W images; fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) images; and multivoxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-MRS) with water suppression. Pre and post contrast T1W and T2W lesion volumes were estimated using a semiautomated edge detection contouring/thresholding technique. The ¹H-MRS images were analyzed using LCModel to estimate total N-acetylaspartate and total creatinine (tNAA/tCr) concentration ratios in an 8x8 multivoxel region of interest in the central white matter (WM). Independent samples t-tests were performed comparing patients’ ethnicity to each MRI measure as well as to demographic measures, including age and disease duration (SPSS v26).

Results

Compared to CAMS patients, AAMS patients had a significantly lower tNAA/tCr concentration ratio (p<0.001).

Conclusions The lower tNAA/tCr ratio in AAMS compared to CAMS further substantiates the more aggressive disease course and the different disease pathobiology across races. Imaging prognostic biomarkers for AAMS is an area needing further exploration and may improve disease monitoring for patients of all racial backgrounds.

Authors/Disclosures
Madeline Bross (Wayne State University) PRESENTER	Ms. Bross has nothing to disclose.
Fen Bao	Fen Bao has nothing to disclose.
Samuel Lichtman-Mikol, BA (Wayne State University)	Mr. Lichtman-Mikol has nothing to disclose.
	No disclosure on file
Carla E. Santiago-Martinez (Wayne State University)	Ms. Santiago-Martinez has nothing to disclose.
Jacob C. Rube, MD (University Health Center)	Dr. Rube has nothing to disclose.
Samiksha Srivastava, MD (Wayne State University)	Dr. Srivastava has nothing to disclose.
Evanthia Bernitsas, MD, FAAN (Wayne State School of Medicine)	Dr. Bernitsas has received personal compensation in the range of $5,000-$9,999 for serving as a Consultant for Amgen. Dr. Bernitsas has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving on a Speakers Bureau for Vanda. The institution of Dr. Bernitsas has received research support from Roche/Genentech.

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