Riikka J. Immonen1, Smaragda Lamprianou2,
Laurent Vinet2, Paolo Meda2, Rolf Gruetter1,3
1Laboratory for functional and
metabolic imaging, Ecole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne, Lausanne,
CH-1015, Switzerland; 2Department of Cell Physiology and
Metabolism, University of Geneva, Geneva, CH-1210, Switzerland; 3Department
of Radiology, University of Geneva and Lausanne, Geneva and Lausanne, CH-1210
and CH-1015, Switzerland
In
diabetes the gradual loss of pancreatic βcells leads to impaired
regulation of blood glucose levels. βcell islets, 30-600μm in
diameter, are sparsely located accross the pancreas. We utilized for the
first time ultra high field of 14.1T in combination of manganese- and
iron-oxide nanoparticle-enhanced MRI to assess pancreatic structures ex vivo.
We were able to distinguish all the main pancreatic structures, including
lobules and branching duct tree with terminal acini. The manganese with
glucose stimulus, without and together with the infusion of iron oxide
particles, also delineated structures which are likely to correspond to
individual pancreatic islets.