Real-Time Assessment of in Vivo Postprandial Lipid Storage in Rat Liver Using 1H-[13C] MRS

Richard Jonkers¹, Tom Geraedts¹, Luc van Loon², Klaas Nicolay¹, Jeanine Prompers¹

Insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes are associated with elevated liver lipid content. It remains unknown whether this excessive accumulation of triglycerides is a result of increased lipid uptake or decreased lipid oxidation. In this study, we measured for the first time postprandial lipid storage in rat liver in vivo using localized ¹³C-edited ¹H-observed MRS and ¹³C labeled lipids as tracers. The ¹³C enrichment of the liver lipid pool was 0.9 0.7% at baseline and increased to 4.8 0.9% 5h after ingestion of the tracer, showing that we can assess changes in ¹³C enriched lipid content in vivo.