Noninvasive quantification of intracerebral GABA by 1H-MRS – How reproducible are the results?

Purpose: Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is an important inhibitatory neurotransmitter in human brain with anticonvulsive character. Because of an increased interest in GABA metabolism we tested the reliability of a special editing sequence which allows non-invasive intracerebral measurements of this neurotransmitter in healthy adults. Methods and Materials: We determined the reproducibility of results obtained with a J-difference editing sequence using MEGA-suppression on a 3T-TIM-Trio (Siemens) by single-voxel-spectroscopy (SVS) with regions of interest (ROIs) in left/right occipital lobe of subjects. Intra- an…