Anne Fages1, Tangi Roussel1, Marina Lysenko2, Ron Hadas2, Michal Neeman2, and Lucio Frydman1
1Chemical Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel, 2Biological Regulation, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
Dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) enhanced 13C MRI of hyperpolarized
(HP) urea and bicarbonate has been applied to monitor metabolic fluxes from the
maternal blood pool to the fetuses, in pregnant rats at late gestation stage.
This use of HP metabolites offers a non-invasive way to observe details of
active and passive maternal-fetal exchanges.