Detection of glucose in the human brain with 1 H MRS at 7 Tesla

Magn Reson Med. 2016 Dec;76(6):1653-1660. doi: 10.1002/mrm.26456. Epub 2016 Sep 8.

Abstract

Purpose: A new method is proposed for noninvasive detection of glucose in vivo using proton MR spectroscopy at 7 Tesla.

Theory and methods: The proposed method utilizes J-difference editing to uncover the resonance of beta-glucose (β-glc) at 3.23 ppm, which is strongly overlapped with choline. Calculations using the density matrix formalism are used to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio of the β-glc resonance at 3.23 ppm. The calculations are verified using phantom and in vivo data collected at 7 Tesla.

Results: The proposed method allows observation of the glucose signal at 3.23 ppm in the human brain spectrum. Additional co-edited resonances of N-acetylaspartylglutamatate and glutathione are also detected in the same experiment.

Conclusion: The proposed method does not require carbon (13 C)- labeled glucose injections and 13 C hardware; as such, it has a potential to provide valuable information on intrinsic glucose concentration in the human brain in vivo. Magn Reson Med 76:1653-1660, 2016. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Keywords: 7 Tesla; MRS; glucose; human brain; jedit-SLASER; numerical simulations.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Algorithms*
  • Brain / anatomy & histology
  • Brain / metabolism*
  • Glucose / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods*
  • Male
  • Molecular Imaging / methods*
  • Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / methods*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Tissue Distribution

Substances

  • Glucose