Metabolic Imaging of the Rat Brain using Hyperpolarized [1-13C]Ketoisocaproate & [1-13C]Pyruvate

Sadia Asghar Butt¹, Lise Vejby Sgaard¹, Peter Magnusson¹, Mette Lauritzen¹, Per keson¹, Jan Henrik Ardenkjr-Larsen²

Metabolic imaging of hyperpolarized [1-13C]ketoisocaproate and [1-13C]pyruvate was performed in the normal rat brain. A chemical shift imaging (CSI) sequence was acquired after injection of [1-13C]ketoisocaproate or [1-13C]pyruvate. The metabolite CSI maps showing biodistribution of metabolites reveal that [1-13C]leucine (formed by transamination of injected [1-13C]ketoisocaproate) is located in the brain tissue.