Title:In vivo MRS of Muscle, Liver, Heart and Other Organs: A Review of Techniques and Applications
Volume: 4
Issue: 2
Author(s): Jong-Hee Hwang
Affiliation:
Keywords:
MRI; 1H, 31P and 13C MRS, Magnetic resonance spectroscopy, liver, muscle and heart MRS.
Abstract: As MRI has been used in biomedical research and medicine since the 1970s, Magnetic
Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) has been employed to study biochemical alterations in living animals
and humans. By taking advantage of its noninvasive nature, 1H, 13C and 31P MRS are being actively
utilized in clinical and biomedical studies to detect lipids, metabolites, and/or kinetic information,
such as acetyl carnitine content and ATP synthesis rates in vivo. These data would be quite difficult to
assess by other modalities. Furthermore, many studies have indicated that in vivo values obtained by
MRS show a close correlation with important metabolic parameters (e.g., hepatic and intramyocellular
lipid content by 1H-MRS correlated with insulin sensitivity), which adds value of MRS. Moreover, hepatic glycogen synthesis
and breakdown can be directly detected by 13C-MRS, whereas in vivo ATP synthesis rates in mitochondria can be
assessed by 31P-MRS as well. These in vivo data offer critical metabolic information in animals and humans, and often
serve as useful biomarkers for the pathophysiology and state of a disease. Thus, in this review, important and frequently
used modalities and applications of MRS in muscle, liver, and other organs are described.
