Ivan Dimitrov1,2, Jimin Ren2,
Deborah Douglas2, A Dean Sherry2, Craig R. Malloy2
1Philips Medical Systems, Cleveland,
OH, United States; 2Advanced Imaging Research Center, University
of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
The
severe health implications of trans-fats
are well-known: their consumption leads to coronary heart disease, diabetes,
cancer, liver dysfunction, and Alzheimers. We report the first non-invasive
detection of trans-fats in humans
by 13C MRS at 7T. WALTZ-16 decoupled FIDs with NOE were acquired
from calves of healthy volunteers in 5 min. The allylic carbons (α to
C=C) display substantially different chemical shifts (cis 27.18 vs. trans
32.59 ppm). A volunteer on a Western diet had a trans : cis ratio = 4.4
%, consistent with ex vivo reports,
whereas no trans-fats were detected
in a volunteer on a Mediterranean diet.