目的 探讨学龄前孤独症(ASD)儿童扣带回代谢物绝对浓度变化特征,及其与相应临床特征的关系.方法 2014年7月至2015年12月对符合孤独症诊断标准的21例学龄前(3~6岁)儿童(学龄前孤独症组)及性别、年龄相匹配的20名学龄前健康对照者(正常对照组)行单体素短TE(TE=30 ms)MRS扫描.以前扣带回皮层(ACC)、前部中扣带回皮层(aMCC)、后扣带回(PCC)为ROI,采用线性拟合模型(LCModel)专业波谱定量分析软件进行N-乙酰天门冬氨酸(NAA)、胆碱(Cho)、总肌酸(tCr)、肌醇(MI)和谷氨酸复合物(Glx)代谢物浓度绝对定量分析,两组间比较采用两样本t检验.学龄前ASD组脑代谢物浓度与精神障碍诊断和统计手册第4版(DSM-IV)、儿童孤独症评定量表(CARS)、孤独症行为量表(ABC)评分进行Pearson相关分析.结果 学龄前孤独症组ACC、aMCC及PCC脑区NAA分别为(4.35±0.80)、(6.34±0.82)、(8.04±0.97)mmol/L,正常对照组分别为(4.98±0.71)、(6.95±0.99)、(9.05±0.97)mmol/L,学龄前孤独症组较正常对照组均明显下降,差异有统计学意义(t值分别为2.640、2.182、3.343,P值均〈0.05);在PCC脑区学龄前孤独症组Cho、Glx分别为(1.32±0.22)、(10.02±0.88)mmol/L,正常对照组分别为(1.51±0.18)、(10.61±0.92)mmol/L,学龄前孤独症组较正常对照组明显下降(t值分别为2.905、2.090,P值均〈0.05);余脑区Cho、tCr、MI及Glx各代谢物较正常对照组均相比无明显差别(P〉0.05).PCC脑区NAA代谢物浓度与CARS评分呈负相关(r=-0.504,P=0.020),余脑区各代谢物与DSM-IV、CARS和ABC评分无相关性(P〉0.05).结论 孤独症患儿脑扣带回生化代谢的改变反映了与其相关的神经元丢失、结构或功能受损及细胞膜酶代谢紊乱,可能揭示了ASD的病理基础并为其诊断、预后评估提供无创、定量手段.
Objective To investigate the metabolite changes in the preschool children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using MR spectroscopy (MRS) and explore the associations between image findings and clinical variables, which may provide a noninvasive brain biochemical method for the early diagnosis and prevention of autism. Methods Twenty one cases of preschool ASD children (3-6 years old) and age-and sex-matched 20 preschool healthy controls underwent single voxel short (SVS) short TE (TE=30 ms) MRS. The absolute metabolite concentrations in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) , anterior middle anterior cingulate cortex (aMCC) and posterior cingulate (PCC) were quantitatively analyzed using LCModel software. Two independent sample t tests were used for analysis. The relationships between metabolite concentrations and diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-IV) , childhood autism rating scale (CARS) and autism behavior checklist (ABC) were analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis. Results Compared to control subjects, ASD patients had significantly lower N-acetylaspartate (NAA) values (4.35 ± 0.80, 6.34±0.82, 8.04±0.97 mmol/L respectively) in ACC, aMCC and PCC (t=2.640, P=0.012;t=2.182, P=0.035;t=3.343, P=0.002) , had significantly lower choline (Cho) 1.32±0.22 mmol/L (t=2.905, P=0.006) and glutamine and glutamate complex (Glx) 10.02 ± 0.88 mmol/L (t=2.090, P=0.043) in PCC. Cho, total creatine (tCr) , myo-Inositol (MI) and Glx levels did not differ between groups in other aforementioned regions (P>0.05). Negative correlations between the NAA ualues in the PCC and CARS (r=-0.504, P=0.020) were detected, and no significant correlation among DSM-IV, CARS, ABC and other metabolite values (P〉0.05). Condnsions The biochemical changes in the preschool children with ASD in cingulate reflect the neuronal loss, structural or functional damage and cell membrane enzyme metabolic dysfunctions, may reveal the p