Table 4.

Neurochemistry of the ¹HMRS images in the controls and patient group.

Regions of interest	Metabolic ratios	Controls (mean ± SD)	SCA3/MJD patients (mean ± SD)	P-value
Middle cerebellar peduncle	NAA/Cr	2.21 ± 0.59	1.41 ± 0.44	P = 0.00*
	Cho/Cr	1.18 ± 0.29	1.10 ± 0.34	P = 0.22
	NAA/Cho	1.91 ± 0.41	1.31 ± 0.36	P = 0.00*
Dentate nucleus	NAA/Cr	1.32 ± 0.24	1.07 ± 0.22	P = 0.00*
	Cho/Cr	1.07 ± 0.18	1.01 ± 0.20	P = 0.06
	NAA/Cho	1.25 ± 0.20	1.07 ± 0.19	P = 0.00*
Cerebellar vermis	NAA/Cr	1.22 ± 0.23	0.96 ± 0.25	P = 0.00*
	Cho/Cr	1.00 ± 0.18	0.88 ± 0.23	P = 0.002*
	NAA/Cho	1.24 ± 0.23	1.12 ± 0.28	P = 0.01
Cerebellar cortex	NAA/Cr	1.17 ± 0.33	1.02 ± 0.27	P = 0.008*
	Cho/Cr	0.92 ± 0.24	0.88 ± 0.23	P = 0.37
	NAA/Cho	1.31 ± 0.34	1.23 ± 0.37	P = 0.23
Putamen	NAA/Cr	1.22 ± 0.27	1.23 ± 0.34	P = 0.81
	Cho/Cr	0.87 ± 0.30	0.95 ± 0.31	P = 0.16
	NAA/Cho	1.48 ± 0.44	1.37 ± 0.43	P = 0.15
Thalamus	NAA/Cr	1.68 ± 0.37	1.47 ± 0.47	P = 0.008*
	Cho/Cr	1.05 ± 0.29	0.99 ± 0.34	P = 0.18
	NAA/Cho	1.63 ± 0.35	1.47 ± 0.24	P = 0.003*

^*After Bonferroni adjustment for multiple testing, p ≤ 0.008 was considered as significant in the correlation analysis (six tests).

NAA, N-acetyl-aspartate; Ch, choline-containing compounds; Cr, creatine and phosphocreatine.