REVIEWS  MOLECULAR IMAGING BEYOND NUCLEAR MEDICINE 

The Quarterly Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular imaging 2009 December;53(6):631-45

Copyright © 2009 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

13C NMR tracers in neurochemistry: implications for molecular imaging

Rodrigues T. B. ¹, Fonseca C. P. ², Castro M. M. C. A. ³, Cerdán S. ¹, Geraldes C. F. G. C. ³

¹ “Alberto Sols” Institute of Biomedical Investigation C.S.I.C./U.A.M. Madrid, Spain 2 Health Sciences Center of Investigation, University of Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal 3 Department of Biochemistry and Center for Neurosciences and Cell Biology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

An overview of 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy methods and their applications in the study of the metabolism of brain cells in vitro and in the in vivo brain is presented as well as their implications for modern molecular imaging techniques. Various topics will be discussed, such as general properties of the 13C NMR spectrum, 13C NMR spectroscopy acquisition protocols, determination of fractional 13C enrichment, 13C(2H) NMR methodologies, and the use of 13C hyperpolarized substrates for NMR spectroscopy and imaging. Some illustrative applications are described, both in vitro and in vivo.