Optimization of the MEGA-PRESS Sequence for Detection of γ-Aminobutyric Acid in Vivo

doi:10.11938/cjmr20172601

Abstract

Abstract: Abnormal metabolism γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is involved in many brain diseases, and in vivo GABA detection is important for the diagnosis of these diseases. This study optimized a commonly used spectral editing method for in vivo GABA detection, MEGA-PRESS. We used high-performance Shinnar-Le Roux (SLR) pulses to replace the commonly used Gaussian pulses. Single-band pulse and dual-band pulse were combined to excite the resonances of given metabolites. An optimized MEGA-PRESS sequence was implemented on the uMR780 magnetic resonance imaging system manufactured by United Imaging Healthcare (UIH). The results showed that the SLR pulse could reduce the interference of macromolecule (MM) on GABA signal. Compared with the traditional methods, combining the single-band and dual-band pulses could better suppress contamination of residual water signal to the GABA^* signal. Volunteer experiments demonstrated that the optimized MEGA-PRESS sequence improved in vivo measurement of GABA^* concentration.

Key words: magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), sequence optimization, MEGA-PRESS, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)

CLC Number:

O482.53

HUA Rui, SUN Yu, WEN Lin-fei, LIU Hui, WAN Sui-ren. Optimization of the MEGA-PRESS Sequence for Detection of γ-Aminobutyric Acid in Vivo[J]. Chinese Journal of Magnetic Resonance, 2018, 35(2): 188-197.

References

[1] GRAAF D, ROBIN A. In vivo NMR spectroscopy principles and techniques (2nd ed)[M]. Chichester:John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2007.
[2] AGARWAL N, RENSHAW P F. Proton MR spectroscopy-detectable major neurotransmitters of the brain:biology and possible clinical applications[J]. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol, 2012, 33(4):595-602.
[3] XIE W J, DONG M, LIU Q, et al. Early predictors and prevention for post-stroke epilepsy:changes in neurotransmitter levels[J]. Transl Neurosci, 2016, 7(1):1-5.
[4] BLASZCZYK J W. Parkinson's disease and neurodegeneration:GABA-collapse hypothesis[J]. Front Neurosci, 2016, 10:269.
[5] BAI X, EDDEN R A, GAO F, et al. Decreased gamma-aminobutyric acid levels in the parietal region of patients with Alzheimer's disease[J]. J Magn Reson Imaging, 2015, 41(5):1326-1331.
[6] ENNA S J, STERN L Z, WASTEK G J, et al. Cerebrospinal fluid gamma-aminobutyric acid variations in neurological disorders[J]. Arch Neurol, 1977, 34(11):683-685.
[7] CHEN Y W, SHEN Z W, SU J W, et al. Quantitative measurement of γ -aminobutyric acid concentration in vivo by magnetic resonance spectroscopy:A review[J]. Chinese J Magn Reson, 2006, 23(3):409-417. 陈耀文, 沈智威, 宿吉伟, 等. MRS定量检测活体γ-氨基丁酸浓度的研究现状[J]. 波谱学杂志, 2006, 23(3):409-417.
[8] CHEN L G, LI J Q, WANG Q F. Detection of GABA in human brain on clinical 3 T MRI scanner[J]. Chinese J Magn Reson, 2013, 30(3):345-353. 陈录广, 李建奇, 王前锋. 人脑GABA测量在临床3 T磁共振成像系统上的实现[J]. 波谱学杂志, 2013, 30(3):345-353.
[9] MESCHER M, MERKLE H, KIRSCH J, et al. Simultaneous in vivo spectral editing and water suppression[J]. NMR Biomed, 1998, 11(6):266-272.
[10] O'GORMAN R L, MICHELS L, EDDEN R A, et al. In vivo detection of GABA and glutamate with MEGA-PRESS:reproducibility and gender effects[J]. J Magn Reson Imaging, 2011, 33(5):1262-1267.
[11] EVANS C J, MCGONIGLE D J, EDDEN R A. Diurnal Stability of γ-aminobutyric acid concentration in visual and sensorimotor Cortex[J]. J Magn Reson Imaging, 2010, 31(1):204-209.
[12] HENRY M E, LAURIAT T L, SHANAHAN M, et al. Accuracy and stability of measuring GABA, glutamate, and glutamine by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy:A phantom study at 4 Tesla[J]. J Magn Reson Imaging, 2010, 208(2):210-218.
[13] MULLINS P G, MCGONIGLE D J, O'GORMAN R L, et al. Current practice in the use of MEGA-PRESS spectroscopy for the detection of GABA[J]. Neuroimage, 2014, 86:43-52.
[14] CHEN M N, WANG Q F, LI G Y, et al. Effects of macromolecules on cerebral GABA measurements using magnetic resonance spectroscopy[J]. Chinese J Magn Reson, 2016, 33(4):618-626. 陈梅泞, 王前锋, 李改英, 等. 人脑GABA磁共振波谱测量中大分子影响的研究[J]. 波谱学杂志, 2016, 33(4):618-626.
[15] TERPSTRA M, UQURBIL K, GRUETTER R. Direct in vivo measurement of human cerebral GABA concentration using MEGA-editing at 7 Tesla[J]. Magn Reson Med, 2002, 47(5):1009-1012.
[16] MATSON G B. An integrated program for amplitude-modulated RF pulse generation and re-mapping with shaped gradients[J]. Magn Reson Imaging, 1994, 12(8):1205-1225.
[17] BROWN M A. Time-domain combination of MR spectroscopy data acquired using phased-array coils[J]. Magn Reson Med, 2004, 52(5):1207-1213.
[18] DONG Z, PETERSON B. The rapid and automatic combination of proton MRSI data using multi-channel coils without water suppression[J]. Magn Reson Imaging, 2007, 25(8):1148-1154.
[19] EDDEN R A, PUTS N A, HARRIS A D, et al. Gannet:A batch-processing tool for the quantitative analysis of gamma-aminobutyric acid-edited MR spectroscopy spectra[J]. J Magn Reson Imaging, 2014, 40(6):1445-1452.