Phosphodiester content measured in human liver by in vivo 31P MR spectroscopy at 7 tesla

PurposePhosphorus (31P) metabolites are emerging liver disease biomarkers. Of particular interest are phosphomonoester and phosphodiester (PDE) “peaks” that comprise multiple overlapping resonances in 31P spectra. This study investigates the effect of improved spectral resolution at 7 Tesla (T) on quantifying hepatic metabolites in cirrhosis.MethodsFive volunteers were scanned to determine metabolite T1s. Ten volunteers and 11 patients with liver cirrhosis were scanned at 7T. Liver spectra were acquired in 28 min using a 16‐channel 31P array and 3D chemical shift imaging. Concentrations were calculated using γ‐adenosine‐triphosphate (γ‐ATP) = 2.65 mmol/L wet tissue.ResultsT1 means ± standard deviations: phosphatidylcholine 1.05 ± 0.28 s, nicotinamide‐adenine‐dinucleotide (NAD+) 2.0 ± 1.0 s, uridine‐diphosphoglucose (UDPG) 3.3 ± 1.4 s. Concentrations in healthy volunteers: α‐ATP 2.74 ± 0.11 mmol/L wet tissue, inorganic phosphate 2.23 ± 0.20 mmol/L wet tissue, glycerophosphocholine 2.34 ± 0.46 mmol/L wet tissue, glycerophosphoethanolamine 1.50 ± 0.28 mmol/L wet tissue, phosphocholine 1.06 ± 0.16 mmol/L wet tissue, phosphoethanolamine 0.77 ± 0.14 mmol/L wet tissue, NAD+ 2.37 ± 0.14 mmol/L wet tissue, UDPG 2.00 ± 0.22 mmol/L wet tissue, phosphatidylcholine 1.38 ± 0.31 mmol/L wet tissue. Inorganic phosphate and phosphatidylcholine concentrations were significantly lower in patients; glycerophosphoethanolamine concentrations were significantly higher (P < 0.05).ConclusionWe report human in vivo hepatic T1s for phosphatidylcholine, NAD+, and UDPG for the first time at 7T. Our protocol allows high signal‐to‐noise, repeatable measurement of metabolite concentrations in human liver. The splitting of PDE into its constituent peaks at 7T may allow more insight into changes in metabolism. Magn Reson Med 78:2095–2105, 2017. © 2017 The Authors Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.