Michael Dodd1, 2, Vicky Ball1, Beat Schuler1, Daniel Ball1, Houman Ashrafian2, Hugh Watkins2, Kieran Clarke1, Damian Tyler1
1Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Oxford University, Oxford, OXON, United Kingdom; 2Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Oxford University, Oxford, OXON, United Kingdom
The advent of cardiac hyperpolarized 13C-MRS has enabled a greater understanding of the in vivo metabolic changes seen as a consequence of heart disease. This work demonstrates the application of hyperpolarized 13C-MRS in the in vivo mouse heart and shows the sensitivity of the technique to detect changes in pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) flux caused by fasting and dichloroacetate. Further, the ability of the technique to study transgenic mouse models of cardiac disease is also demonstrated with application in the fumarate hydratase knockout mouse.