Lee DW, Woo CW, Woo DC, Kim JK, Kim KW, Lee DH. Regional Mapping of Brain Glutamate Distributions Using Glutamate-Weighted Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer Imaging.
Diagnostics (Basel) 2020;
10:E571. [PMID:
32784483 PMCID:
PMC7459654 DOI:
10.3390/diagnostics10080571]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2020] [Revised: 08/06/2020] [Accepted: 08/06/2020] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE
To investigate glutamate signal distributions in multiple brain regions of a healthy rat brain using glutamate-weighted chemical exchange saturation transfer (GluCEST) imaging.
METHOD
The GluCEST data were obtained using a 7.0 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner, and all data were analyzed using conventional magnetization transfer ratio asymmetry in eight brain regions (cortex, hippocampus, corpus callosum, and rest of midbrain in each hemisphere). GluCEST data acquisition was performed again one month later in five randomly selected rats to evaluate the stability of the GluCEST signal. To evaluate glutamate level changes calculated by GluCEST data, we compared the results with the concentration of glutamate acquired from 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) data in the cortex and hippocampus.
RESULTS
GluCEST signals showed significant differences (all p ≤ 0.001) between the corpus callosum (-1.71 ± 1.04%; white matter) and other brain regions (3.59 ± 0.41%, cortex; 5.47 ± 0.61%, hippocampus; 4.49 ± 1.11%, rest of midbrain; gray matter). The stability test of GluCEST findings for each brain region was not significantly different (all p ≥ 0.263). In line with the GluCEST results, glutamate concentrations measured by 1H MRS also appeared higher in the hippocampus (7.30 ± 0.16 μmol/g) than the cortex (6.89 ± 0.72 μmol/g).
CONCLUSION
Mapping of GluCEST signals in the healthy rat brain clearly visualize glutamate distributions. These findings may yield a valuable database and insights for comparing glutamate signal changes in pre-clinical brain diseases.
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