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MRS banner Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Core (MRS)

Carbon-13 Spectroscopy of Non-human Primate

In vivo 13C magnetic resonance spectroscopy is a powerful method for measuring the metabolism and neurotransmission of living brain. Because of its unique chemical specificity, 13C MRS allows detection and quantification of metabolic intermediates which would be difficult to be measured using radiochemical methods. The MRS core has developed non-localized (NOE and proton decoupling) and localized (polarization transfer and proton decoupling) 13C spectroscopy methods to measure the 13C spectra of rhesus monkey brains with or without infusion of 13C labeled glucose, acetate or other substances. The methods have been implemented on a 4.7 T 30-cm horizontal bore magnet. These 13C MRS tools can be used to measurement turnover kinetics of glucose, glutamate, glutamine and aspartate with infusion of 13C labeled substances and the effect after pharmaceutical treatments.

MRS Techniques Image
Fig. 7 (above) is an accumulated localized 13C spectrum from a
monkey brain with infusion of [1-13C]glucose solution