An in vitro 1H nuclear magnetic resonance study of the temporoparietal cortex of Alzheimer brains.

The concentrations of selected metabolites in the posterior temporoparietal cortex of 13 Alzheimer's diseased (AD) and four nondemented postmortem brains (of individuals between the ages of 63 and 95) were determined using high-resolution 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The estimates for glutamate and inositol for AD brains did not show any statistically significant difference (P > 0.05) from those for the nondemented brains. The putative neuronal marker N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), creatine, and GABA were decreased in AD brains compared with the nondemented brains. The estimates for creatine, glutamate, and GABA showed significant linear correlations with those of NAA. Creatine, glutamate, GABA, and NAA appeared to be negatively correlated with the neurofibrillary tangles. Our results support a neuronal loss in the posterior temporoparietal cortices of AD brains.