Localized Spectroscopy in the Rat Brain Following Hyperpolarized [2-13C]pyruvate Injection

Isabelle Iltis¹, Dinesh Kumar Deelchand¹, Christopher Nelson¹, Pierre-Gilles Henry¹, Malgorzata Marjanska¹

In this work, we measured hyperpolarized ¹³C signals in the rat brain in vivo following i.v. injection of hyperpolarized [2-¹³C]pyruvate in fasted and non-fasted animals. Time courses were obtained for resonances from [2-¹³C]pyruvate, [2-¹³C]pyruvate hydrate and [2-¹³C]lactate. Using LASER, we observed in the brain a resonance at 182.8 ppm only when the animals were fasted. This suggests that [2-¹³C]-pyruvate is metabolized in the liver and one of its byproducts is transported to the brain.