# SPECTROSCOPY OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & VASCULAR DEMENTIA

> **NIH NIH R01** · HENRY FORD HEALTH SYSTEM · 1993 · $195,554

## Abstract

The overall aim of this project is to determine, using 31-Phosphorous (31P)
and proton (1H) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, if brain
metabolic markers exist that will distinguish Alzheimer's disease from
dementia associated with multiple sites of subcortical ischemia.  A five
year longitudinal study will investigate clinical, imaging (magnetic
resonance imaging, MRI), metabolic (in vivo 31P and 1H NMR) and
neuropathologic data in selected patients with multiple subcortical
ischemic dementia (MSID), Alzheimer's disease (AD), or mixed AD and
vascular disease. and in nondemented elderly controls. The study aims to
characterize changes in brain energy phosphate, phospholipid metabolism,
pH, free magnesium, N-acetyl aspartate, and cholinated compounds that might
accurately predict clinical and pathologic diagnoses of AD, MSID, and mixed
MSID/AD.  Further, two hypotheses will be tested to explain the shift
towards the high energy phosphate end of the phosphorus spectrum previously
reported in MSID.  One hypothesis attributes the shift to a decreased
utilization of molecular energy in superficial brain regions disconnected
from neuronal input by subcortical lesions. The other hypothesis attributes
the shift to increased astrocytic reactivity in cortical regions that have
been subjected to mild levels of ischemia.  The first hypothesis predicts
that the extent of the high energy phosphate shift should be correlated
with the extent and location of the subcortical white matter
hyperintensities observed on MRI.  The second hypothesis predicts that MSID
patients with a shift towards the high energy phosphate end of the
phosphorus spectrum will have microcavities and increased glial
immunoreactivity in cortical regions where spectra are obtained, even
though these areas appeared to be normal on MRI.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3122618
- **Project number:** 5R01AG010677-03
- **Recipient organization:** HENRY FORD HEALTH SYSTEM
- **SAM.gov UEI:** R9NXPE2GTCN9
- **Principal Investigator:** Gregory G Brown
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1993
- **Award amount:** $195,554
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1991-09-29 → 1996-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3122618

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3122618, SPECTROSCOPY OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & VASCULAR DEMENTIA (5R01AG010677-03). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3122618. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*