Background: The mechanisms responsible for acute renal failure in sepsis are not understood. Measurement of tissue ATP might help to understand this process but, in the large animal, it is hampered by major technical difficulties.
Objective: To develop a technique to monitor ATP in the kidney of a large mammal during the induction of septic shock and then circulatory arrest.
Methods: Implantation of a custom-made phosphorus coil around the left kidney. Induction of septic shock by intravenous E. coli administration. Acquisition of 31 P magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopic data at 3-tesla before and during septic shock over several hours. Induction of euthanasia and measurement of the same 31 P signal immediately and thirty minutes after circulatory arrest.
Results: Clear reproducible 31 P MR spectra were obtained before and after the induction of septic shock and euthanasia. They indicated limited changes in ATP during septic shock. An expected rapid and dramatic decrease in ATP occurred with euthanasia.
Conclusions: It is possible to sequentially monitor renal bioenergetics in a large mammal during septic shock using an implanted custom-made phosphorus coil and 3-tesla MR technology. This technique offers a novel approach to the investigation of septic renal failure.