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Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy in substance use disorder: recent advances and future clinical applications

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Abstract

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) now is widely used in clinical researches for the measurement of compounds or metabolites in vivo, especially in neuropsychiatric diseases/disorders. Recently, there are many studies on substance use disorders utilizing 1H-MRS to explore the mechanism of brain metabolites. It is found that metabolites levels in substance users are changed compared with healthy controls. Furthermore, these changes also relate to behavior indices, and provide evidence for the impact on neuronal health, energy metabolism and membrane turnover. However, 1H-MRS is not yet a mature detection technology, and it still has many challenges in the application of the neuropsychiatric disorder area. The settings of test parameters and the inconsistency of results across different studies still plague the clinicians and technicians. This article is intended to provide an overview of basic theory and methods of 1H-MRS, and the literature reporting metabolites alterations in substance dependence, as well as the related neuropsychological performance. At last, we will discuss the forthcoming challenges and possible future direction in this area.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2017YFC1310400), National Nature Science Foundation (Grant No. 81771436, 81801319), Shanghai Municipal Health and Family Planning Commission (Grant No. 2017ZZ02021), Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders (Grant No. 13DZ2260500), Program of Shanghai Academic Research Leader (Grant No. 17XD1403300), and Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Major Project (Grant No. 2018SHZDZX05), and Shanghai Clinical Research Center for Mental Health (Grant No. 19MC1911100).

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  1. Tianzhen CHEN, Haoye TAN, and Huiting LEI have the same contribution to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shanghai Mental Health Center, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200030, China

    Tianzhen Chen, Haoye Tan, Huiting Lei, Hang Su & Min Zhao

  2. Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai, 200030, China

    Min Zhao

  3. Institute of Psychological and Behavioral Science, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200030, China

    Min Zhao

  4. CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology (CEBSIT), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200030, China

    Min Zhao

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  1. Tianzhen Chen
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  2. Haoye Tan
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  3. Huiting Lei
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  4. Hang Su
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  5. Min Zhao
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Correspondence to Hang Su or Min Zhao.

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Chen, T., Tan, H., Lei, H. et al. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy in substance use disorder: recent advances and future clinical applications. Sci. China Inf. Sci. 63, 170101 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11432-019-2818-5

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