Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 109, Issue 49, Pages 20101-20106Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1209934109
Keywords
neuroradiology; hippocampus; 2-(phosphonomethyl)pentanedioic acid (2-PMPA)
Categories
Funding
- National Institutes of Health [K23 MH069702, T32 MH015330, P41EB015909]
- Montel Williams Multiple Sclerosis Foundation
- Nancy Davis Multiple Sclerosis Foundation
- Transverse Myelitis Association
- Johns Hopkins Brain Science Institute
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Half of all patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) experience cognitive impairment, for which there is no pharmacological treatment. Using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), we examined metabolic changes in the hippocampi of MS patients, compared the findings to performance on a neurocognitive test battery, and found that N-acetylaspartylglutamate (NAAG) concentration correlated with cognitive functioning. Specifically, MS patients with cognitive impairment had low hippocampal NAAG levels, whereas those with normal cognition demonstrated higher levels. We then evaluated glutamate carboxypeptidase II (GCPII) inhibitors, known to increase brain NAAG levels, on cognition in the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) model of MS. Whereas GCPII inhibitor administration did not affect physical disabilities, it increased brain NAAG levels and dramatically improved learning and memory test performance compared with vehicle-treated EAE mice. These data suggest that NAAG is a unique biomarker for cognitive function in MS and that inhibition of GCPII might be a unique therapeutic strategy for recovery of cognitive function.
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