Effect of intravenous fructose on the P-31 MR spectrum of the liver: dose response in healthy volunteers.

Dynamic phosphorus-31 magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy of the liver after intravenous administration of fructose has been suggested as a test of liver function. To establish dose-response curves of the phosphorus metabolites in the normal human liver, each of four healthy volunteers was given two to four different fructose doses on separate days: 62.5, 125, 250, 375, or 500 mg per kilogram of body weight. P-31 MR spectra of the liver were acquired with a 2-T whole-body magnetic, both before and after fructose administration, at 2.5-minute intervals over at least 30 minutes. The fructose load caused a significant, linearly dose-dependent accumulation of phosphomonoesters (r = .72, P less than .01) and a decrease in inorganic phosphate (r = .78, P less than .005) and adenosine triphosphate (r = .73, P less than .01). On the basis of these experiments, dynamic P-31 MR spectroscopy seems promising in the assessment of liver function.