Myo-inositol as a spectroscopic marker of neuroinflammation in frontotemporal lobar degeneration

The study investigated the potential of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to measure myo-inositol, an inflammatory metabolite in the brain, as a biomarker of neuroinflammation in frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). The research included 54 patients with FTLD-associated disorders and 73 healthy controls. Results showed that myo-inositol was elevated in the right inferior frontal gyrus (a disease-affected region) in FTLD patients compared to controls (p = 8.8 × 10⁻⁷), but not in the control region in the occipital lobe. Elevated myo-inositol levels in the affected region were positively associated with peripheral inflammatory markers including IL-6, IL-1, GFAP, and CRP (p = 3.60 × 10⁻⁶) and negatively associated with cognitive performance (p = 0.00016). MRS-derived myo-inositol appears to be a promising neuroimaging biomarker of inflammation in FTLD.