Rajakumar Nagarajan1, Zohaib Iqbal1, Manoj K Sarma1, S. Sendhil Velan2, and M.Albert Thomas1
1Radiological Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, 2Laboratory of Molecular Imaging, Singapore Bioimaging Consortium, Singapore, Singapore
Skeletal muscle plays a major
role in the development of insulin resistance (IR) and progression to type 2
diabetes. A recent work has used long TE
(350ms) based PRESS localized spectrum in the vastus lateralis region of thigh
muscle without any exercise to investigate acetylcarnitine, a compound formed
when acetyl-Coenzyme A exceeds use by the tricarboxylic cycle in the
mitochondria. This work focused on examining regional variations of
acetylcarnitine in the thigh and calf muscles using the long TE MRS. Our
preliminary results show the unequivocal presence of acetylcarnitine in lean,
young healthy thigh muscle regions and decreased level in one diabetic type 2
patient.
