PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Shulman, Yanina
AU  - Grant, Suzanne
AU  - Seres, Peter
AU  - Hanstock, Chris
AU  - Baker, Glen
AU  - Tibbo, Philip
TI  - The relation between peripheral and central glutamate and glutamine in healthy male volunteers
DP  - 2006 Nov 01
TA  - Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
PG  - 406--410
VI  - 31
IP  - 6
4099  - http://jpn.ca/content/31/6/406.short
4100  - http://jpn.ca/content/31/6/406.full
SO  - JPN2006 Nov 01; 31
AB  - Objective: High-field strength proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) and peripheral blood analyses reported in the literature reveal glutamate (Glu) and glutamine (Gln) abnormalities in schizophrenia. Given the relative ease and feasibility of using peripheral measures, the present study investigates the relation between peripheral and brain Glu and Gln levels.Methods: We recruited healthy volunteers (n = 17, mean age 21.9 [standard deviation 2.9, range 18–29] yr) between May and December 2005. All participants underwent 3 Tesla 1H-MRS analysis with segmentation (grey matter, white matter, cerebrospinal fluid) at the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Centre at the University of Alberta Hospital to quantify medial prefrontal cortical (mPFC) Glu and Glx (i.e., combination of Glu and Gln). Within 1 week of 1H-MRS analysis, we collected plasma from the same participants for Glu and Gln quantification, using high-performance liquid chromatography at the Neurochemical Research Unit at the University of Alberta.Results: There was no correlation between plasma Glu and either medial prefrontal cortical Glu or Glx (R1,15 = 0.019, p = 0.944 and R1,15 = 0.081, p = 0.757, respectively). Similarly, there was no correlation between plasma Gln and either mPFC Glu or Glx (R1,15 = 0.029, p = 0.911 and R1,15 = 0.025, p = 0.925, respectively).Conclusion: Our findings support the use of 1H-MRS, instead of peripheral blood analysis, for investigating glutamatergic dysfunction in the brain.