Name of Fellow

    Immonen Riikka

    Institution

    Funder

    Academy of Finland

    Contact information of fellow

    Country

    Finland

    Title of project/programme

    Novel application of minimally-invasive in vivo Carbon-13 Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) on Brain Metabolism Alterations in Major Progressive Neurodegenerative Diseases

    Source of funding information

    Academy of Finland

    Total sum awarded (Euro)

    € 254,565

    Start date of award

    01/09/11

    Total duration of award in years

    5.1

    The project/programme is most relevant to:

    Neurodegenerative disease in general

    Keywords

    Carbon-13 Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy | 13C-MRS | 1H-MRS | magnetic resonance imaging | brain | metabolism | Epilepsy | Alzheimer's | neurodegenerative disease | animal model | rat | in vivo | ketogenic diet

    Research Abstract

    As a result of international collaboration we are transfering carbon-13 magnetic resonance spectroscopy (13C-MRS) methodology into Finland (A.I.Virtanen Institute). The method is based on administration of harmless 13C-labeled substrate and following its conversion into observable 13C-labeled compounds. 13C-MRS can assess the concentrations of brain energy metabolites and neurotransmitters non-invasively which makes it a promising tool in the research of neurodegenerative diseases like epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease. About 1% of people worldwide suffer from epilepsies while Alzheimer’s disease is most common cause for dementia. In epilepsy the excitatory-inhibitory imbalance and in Alzheimer’s the impaired glutamate neurotransmission are crucial features. We determine the alterations in brain metabolites both upon the disease progression and as a response to therapeutic ketogenic diet in rat models of epilepsy and Alzheimer’s. The method is directly transferable to the clinics.

Types: Fellowships
Member States: Finland
Diseases: Neurodegenerative disease in general
Years: 2016
Database Categories: N/A
Database Tags: N/A

Export as PDF