An investigation of the glial biomarker myo-Inositol as a marker of brain inflammation in elderly patients with and without delirium.

Myo-Inositol is sometimes considered a marker of brain inflammation and studies indicate mI (mI/tCr) increases with age up to the 6th decade. We performed 1H MRS in four brain regions of very elderly hospitalised patients (n=25, aged 67-90 yrs) of which 12 had delirium. Elevated mI/tCr was associated with increasing Fazekas score for white matter damage (p<0.001) in all regions. In addition mI/tCr and mI/NAA showed negative correlation with age (p<0.001). There were no significant differences between patients with or without delirium. Decreased mI/tCr due to reduced glial cell numbers or dysfunction may coincide with increased mI/tCr associated with inflammation.