In Situ 3D MR Metabolic Imaging of Microwave-Irradiated Rodent Brain: A New Tool for Metabolomics Research

Robin A. de Graaf¹, Golam MI Chowdhury¹, Peter B. Brown¹, Douglas L. Rothman¹, Kevin L. Behar¹

High-resolution and high-sensitivity MR imaging and spectroscopy on microwave-irradiated rat brain is demonstrated. Structural integrity and metabolic stability are confirmed for at least 12 hours through the use of DTI and T2-weighted MRI and 1H MRS. 1H MR spectra of microwave-irradiated rat brain are indistinguishable from in vivo 1H MR spectra. When combined with in vivo infusion of 13C-labeled compounds, the in situ 1H MRSI data allows the detection of metabolic fluxes at high spatial resolution.