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Abstract #0120

Acetylcarnitine Turnover in Rat Skeletal Muscle Measured in Vivo Using Localized 13C NMR at 14.1 T

Jessica A. M. Bastiaansen1, Joao M.N. Duarte2, 3, Arnaud Comment4, Rolf Gruetter5, 6

1Laboratory of Functional and Metabolic Imaging, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland; 2Laboratory of Functional and Metabolic Imaging, Ecole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; 3Department of Radiology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; 4Institute of Physics of Biological Systems, Ecole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; 5Laboratory of Functional and Metabolic Imaging, cole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; 6Department of Radiology, University of Lausanne and Geneva, Lausanne and Geneva, Switzerland


Acetate has been widely used as a metabolic probe for measuring TCA cycle kinetics in vivo in skeletal muscle. To cross the mitochondrial membrane, acetate needs to be transformed into acetylcarnitine, a metabolite which has not been observed in vivo using non-hyperpolarized 13C MRS. The aim was to detect the [2-13C]acetylcarnitine resonance in vivo using localized DEPT at 14.1T. This study demonstrates that at high field using a polarization transfer technique acetylcarnitine can be observed. This allows for a more detailed characterization of acetate oxidation in skeletal muscle in vivo and in studies of metabolic disorders where carnitine deficiency occurs.