Simultaneous imaging of hyperpolarized [1,4-13 C2 ]fumarate, [1-13 C]pyruvate and 18 F-FDG in a rat model of necrosis in a clinical PET/MR scanner.

A co-polarization scheme for [1,4-13 C2 ]fumarate and [1-13 C]pyruvate is presented to simultaneously assess necrosis and metabolism in rats with hyperpolarized 13 C magnetic resonance (MR). The co-polarization was performed in a SPINlab polarizer. In addition, the feasibility of simultaneous positron emission tomography (PET) and MR of small animals with a clinical PET/MR scanner is demonstrated. The hyperpolarized metabolic MR and PET was demonstrated in a rat model of necrosis. The polarization and T1 of the co-polarized [1,4-13 C2 ]fumarate and [1-13 C]pyruvate substrates were measured in vitro and compared with those obtained when the substrates were polarized individually. A polarization of 36 ± 4% for fumarate and 37 ± 6% for pyruvate was obtained. We found no significant difference in the polarization and T1 values between the dual and single substrate polarization. Rats weighing about 400 g were injected intramuscularly in one of the hind legs with 200 μL of turpentine to induce necrosis. Two hours later, 13 C metabolic maps were obtained with a chemical shift imaging sequence (16 × 16) with a resolution of 3.1 × 5.0 × 25.0 mm3 . The 13 C spectroscopic images were acquired in 12 s, followed by an 8-min 18 F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose (18 F-FDG) PET acquisition with a resolution of 3.5 mm. [1,4-13 C2 ]Malate was observed from the tissue injected with turpentine indicating necrosis. Normal [1-13 C]pyruvate metabolism and 18 F-FDG uptake were observed from the same tissue. The proposed co-polarization scheme provides a means to utilize multiple imaging agents simultaneously, and thus to probe various metabolic pathways in a single examination. Moreover, it demonstrates the feasibility of small animal research on a clinical PET/MR scanner for combined PET and hyperpolarized metabolic MR.