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Abstract #1021

[1-13C]lactate Signal Derived from Hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate Originates from the Brain, Not from the Blood.

Isabelle Iltis1, Dinesh Kumar Deelchand1, Malgorzata Marjanska1, Gregor Adriany1, Manda Vollmers1, Kamil Ugurbil1, Pierre-Gilles Henry1

1Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, Department of Radiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States


Recently, we have shown detection of [1-13C]lactate in the normal brain in vivo after injection of hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate. However, the spatial origin of the detected [1-13C]lactate signal has been a matter of debate. In the present work, a coil specifically designed to detect 13C resonances in the carotid of anesthetized, living rats was used to detect signals from the blood. We show that no lactate signal is detected in the carotid after injection of hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate, hereby demonstrating that the lactate signal observed in the brain originates from tissue metabolism.