Jessica A M Bastiaansen1, Tian Cheng1, Rolf Gruetter1, 2, Arnaud Comment3
1Laboratory of Functional and Metabolic Imaging, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; 2Department of Radiology, Universite de Lausanne and Geneva, Lausanne and Geneva, Switzerland; 3Institute of Physics of Biological Systems, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Following the infusion of hyperpolarized [1-13C]acetate, we measured the real-time metabolic conversion of acetate to acetylcarnitine and citrate in vivo in rat hearts. A kinetic model allowed us to determine quantitative conversion rates inside the myocardium. Our study supports the role of acetylcarnitine as a shuttle for acetyl groups across the mitochondrial membrane.