Quantitative (31)P spectroscopic imaging of human brain at 4 Tesla: assessment of gray and white matter differences of phosphocreatine and ATP

• Published in: Magnetic resonance in medicine Vol. 45; no. 1; pp. 46 - 52
• Main Authors: Hetherington, H P, Spencer, D D, Vaughan, J T, Pan, J W
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.01.2001
• Subjects: Adenosine Triphosphate - analysis; Adult; Body Water; Brain Chemistry; Cerebellum - chemistry; Cerebral Cortex - chemistry; Female; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; Male; Middle Aged; Muscle, Skeletal - chemistry; Phosphocreatine - analysis
• ISSN: 0740-3194
• DOI: 10.1002/1522-2594(200101)45:1<46::AID-MRM1008>3.0.CO;2-N

This report describes the implementation and application of a multicompartment analysis of (31)P spectroscopic imaging data to determine the tissue-specific heterogeneities in metabolite content in the human brain and surrounding tissue. Using this information and a multicompartment regression analysis the phosphocreatine and ATP content of "pure" cerebral gray and white matter, the cerebellum, and skeletal muscle was determined in a group of 10 healthy volunteers. The data were converted to mM units using previously reported values for the T(1)s of phosphocreatine and ATP at 4 T, the water content of human brain, and an external reference for absolute quantification. The phosphocreatine concentration in cerebral gray and white matter, the cerebellum, and skeletal muscle was 3.53 +/- 0.33, 3.33 +/- 0.37, 3.75 +/- 0.66, and 25.8 +/- 2.3 mM, respectively. The ATP concentration in cerebral gray and white matter, the cerebellum, and skeletal muscle was 2.19 +/- 0.33, 3.41 +/- 0.33, 1.75 +/- 0.58, and 8.5 +/- 1.9 mM, respectively. Magn Reson Med 45:46-52, 2001.