Work

Feasibility of Concurrent 1H MRS and 31P MRSI at 7 T: Brain Energy Metabolism Responses to Hyperglycemia

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: ABSTRACT How the human brain adjusts fuel handling and its bioenergetic state during changing glucose levels remains difficult to assess noninvasively. In this study, we established an interleaved multinuclear 7 T MR spectroscopy protocol to track a glucose‐related H signal alongside P measures of high‐energy phosphate metabolism during a hyperglycemic clamp. Five healthy adults completed a morning, fasted infusion experiment consisting of baseline, ramp‐up, and hyperglycemic stages over 120 min. Short‐block, short‐TE H single‐voxel spectroscopy (STEAM, TE = 11 ms; mean block duration min) was acquired in frontal cortex and quantified using the composite glucose taurine (Glc Tau) measure. P was acquired with rapid 3D PETALUTE MRSI using an ultrashort echo time (UTE; TE = 65 s; 381 s per block), and high‐energy phosphate ratios were derived from a posterior cortical region of interest. Across participants, H Glc Tau increased with blood glucose and showed significant elevations from baseline into hyperglycemia. In parallel, P ratios exhibited smaller but significant glycemia‐linked responses: both PCr/Pi and ATP/Pi increased with blood glucose and differed across glucose clamp stages. These findings show that H and P MRS(I) can be interleaved at 7 T to measure energy metabolism within a single session.

Source: NMR in Biomedicine

DOI: 10.1002/nbm.70369

Authors: Mark Widmaier, Brooke C. Matson, Uzay Emir, Janice J. Hwang

Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Language: English

Topic: Advanced MRI Techniques and Applications

Subfield: Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill