Importance of Linear Combination Modeling for Quantification of Glutathione and γ-Aminobutyric Acid Levels Using Hadamard-Edited Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Background: J-difference-edited ¹H-MR spectra require modeling to quantify signals of low-concentration metabolites. Two main approaches are used for this spectral modeling: simple peak fitting and linear combination modeling (LCM) with a simulated basis set. Recent consensus recommended LCM as the method of choice for the spectral analysis of edited data.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to compare the performance of simple peak fitting and LCM in a test-retest dataset, hypothesizing that the more sophisticated LCM approach would improve quantification of Hadamard-edited data compared with simple peak fitting.

Methods: A test-retest dataset was re-analyzed using Gannet (simple peak fitting) and Osprey (LCM). These data were obtained from the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex of twelve healthy volunteers, with TE = 80 ms for HERMES and TE = 120 ms for MEGA-PRESS of glutathione (GSH). Within-subject coefficients of variation (CVs) were calculated to quantify between-scan reproducibility of each metabolite estimate.

Results: The reproducibility of HERMES GSH estimates was substantially improved using LCM compared to simple peak fitting, from a CV of 19.0-9.9%. For MEGA-PRESS GSH data, reproducibility was similar using LCM and simple peak fitting, with CVs of 7.3 and 8.8%. GABA + CVs from HERMES were 16.7 and 15.2%, respectively for the two models.

Conclusion: LCM with simulated basis functions substantially improved the reproducibility of GSH quantification for HERMES data.