Pre- and post-contrast glucoCEST weighted MRI both detect hypometabolism following experimental TBI

This study compared the endogenous glucoCEST contrast to the glucoCEST with exogenous glucose delivered as contrast agent in experimental TBI. By giving relatively low concentration (0.3g/kg) of 2DG solution, the post-contrast glucoCEST weighted images could magnify the contrast changes in the brains before and after TBI. Meanwhile, the endogenous glucoCEST weighted images also detected the same pattern of decreased contrast in the TBI brains and that was validated by 2DG autoradiography. Our findings substantiate that the glucoCEST technique has potential to detect the hypometabolic syndrome following TBI, even without using exogenous contrast agent.