Arabhi C. Nagasunder1,2, Ashok Panigrahy1,3,
Fawzi Boumezbeur4, Marvin D. Nelson1, Stefan Bluml1,2
1Radiology, Childrens
Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States; 2Rudi
Schulte Research Institute, Santa Barbara, CA, United States; 3Radiology,
Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, Pittsburgh, PA, United States; 4Commissariat
lEnergie Atomique, Institute for Biomedical Imaging, Gif-sur-Yvette,
Paris, France
Regular glucose (12C Glc) and 13C enriched (U-13C) glucose was administered orally to healthy controls. MR spectra, using a standard PRESS sequence on a clinical 3T scanner, were acquired before and after Glc administration. Increased brain glucose concentrations were readily detectable after 12C Glc administration. When U-13C Glc was used, 13C label replaced 12C and resulted in an apparent reduction of the 1H MRS detectable breakdown products of glucose such as glutamate (Glu). This study demonstrates the feasibility of monitoring glucose metabolism in the human brain using widely available and FDA approved methods. Despite the limitations in specificity, this approach could be useful when the logistical challenges, posed by advanced approaches to study in vivo Glc metabolism, cannot be overcome.
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