Proton MRS in the late stage of neonatal hypoxia-ischemic cerebral injury

Abstract

Neonatal hypoxic-ischemic (HI) cerebral injury is major cause of permanent damage to neuronal cells. The neonatal brain undergoes regenerative processes late after HI injury. While 1H MRS has been employed to investigate metabolic changes during acute-phase of HI injury, roles of major neurochemicals as markers for neurodegeneration and neuroprotection at late stage are also important for studying the neurophysiological changes. In this study, we showed that alteration in the metabolism at late stage in cortical and subcortical structures is associated with neonatal HI cerebral injury. This may provide insights into the plastic changes and adaptive modifications within brain following injury.