Application of glutamate weighted CEST in brain imaging of nicotine dependent participants in vivo at 7T.

Autor: Paul S Jacobs, Joelle Jee, Liu Fang, Emily Devlin, Claudia Iannelli, Deepa Thakuri, James Loughead, Cynthia Neill Epperson, Neil Wilson, David Roalf, Ravinder Reddy, Ravi Prakash Reddy Nanga
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: PLoS ONE, Vol 19, Iss 2, p e0297310 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1932-6203
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0297310&type=printable
Popis: IntroductionWith nicotine dependence being a significant healthcare issue worldwide there is a growing interest in developing novel therapies and diagnostic aids to assist in treating nicotine addiction. Glutamate (Glu) plays an important role in cognitive function regulation in a wide range of conditions including traumatic brain injury, aging, and addiction. Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) imaging via ultra-high field MRI can image the exchange of certain saturated labile protons with the surrounding bulk water pool, making the technique a novel tool to investigate glutamate in the context of addiction. The aim of this work was to apply glutamate weighted CEST (GluCEST) imaging to study the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) in a small population of smokers and non-smokers to determine its effectiveness as a biomarker of nicotine use.Methods2D GluCEST images were acquired on 20 healthy participants: 10 smokers (ages 29-50) and 10 non-smokers (ages 25-69), using a 7T MRI system. T1-weighted images were used to segment the GluCEST images into white and gray matter tissue and further into seven gray matter regions. Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were performed, comparing mean GluCEST contrast between smokers and non-smokers across brain regions.ResultsGluCEST levels were similar between smokers and non-smokers; however, there was a moderate negative age dependence (R2 = 0.531) in smokers within the cingulate gyrus.ConclusionFeasibility of GluCEST imaging was demonstrated for in vivo investigation of smokers and non-smokers to assess glutamate contrast differences as a potential biomarker with a moderate negative age correlation in the cingulate gyrus suggesting reward network involvement.
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