Napapon Sailasuta1, Brian D. Ross1,2
1Clinical MR Spectroscopy, Huntington
Medical Research Institutes, Pasadena, CA, United States; 2Rudi Schulte
Research Institute, Santa Barbara , CA, United States
13C
MRS uniquely quantifies glutamine-glutamate cycle rate in either neurons or
glia, driven by the substrate selection of their cellular membrane
transporters. Glial metabolic rate is
of increasing interest as the range of human neurological disorders which
appears selective to glia (Alzheimers, MS; TBI; epilepsy) increases and as
selective medications are designed to correct such abnormalities. 13C enrichment followed by localized 13C
MRS detection of many specific products has provided valuable
background. In a recent study we
encountered a mismatch between prior metabolic models and a simplified method
described here with a 5 10 fold difference in the measured rate.