Metabolic changes in de novo Parkinson’s disease after dopaminergic therapy: A proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study

The aim of this study was to assess metabolic changes in the motor cortex in de novo Parkinson's disease (PD) patients before and after therapy with ropinirole. Twenty de novo drug-naive PD patients and 15 healthy controls underwent conventional magnetic resonance imaging and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging ((1)H-MRSI). The resonance intensities of N-acetylaspartate (NAA) and choline (Cho) were normalized for the resonance intensities of creatine (Cr). At baseline, lower NAA/Cr and NAA/Cho ratios and higher Cho/Cr ratios were found in the motor cortex of PD patients compared with controls (p