Indirect 1H-[13C] MRS of the human brain at 7 T using a 13C-birdcage coil and eight transmit-receive 1H-dipole antennas with a 32-channel 1H-receive array.

The neuronal tricarboxylic acid and glutamate/glutamine (Glu/Gln) cycles play important roles in brain function. These processes can be measured in vivo using dynamic ¹H-[¹³C] MRS during administration of ¹³C-labeled glucose. Proton-observed carbon-edited (POCE) MRS enhances the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) compared with direct ¹³C-MRS. Ultra-high field further boosts the SNR and increases spectral dispersion; however, even at 7 T, Glu and Gln ¹H-resonances may overlap. Further gain can be obtained with selective POCE (selPOCE). Our aim was to create a setup for indirect dynamic ¹H-[¹³C] MRS in the human brain at 7 T. A home-built non-shielded transmit-receive ¹³C-birdcage head coil with eight transmit-receive ¹H-dipole antennas was used together with a 32-channel ¹H-receive array. Electromagnetic simulations were carried out to ensure that acquisitions remained within local and global head SAR limits. POCE-MRS was performed using slice-selective excitation with semi-localization by adiabatic selective refocusing (sLASER) and stimulated echo acquisition mode (STEAM) localization, and selPOCE-MRS using STEAM. Sequences were tested in a phantom containing non-enriched Glu and Gln, and in three healthy volunteers during uniformly labeled ¹³C-glucose infusions. In one subject the voxel position was alternated between bi-frontal and bi-occipital placement within one session. [4-¹³C]Glu-H4 and [4-¹³C]Gln-H4 signals could be separately detected using both STEAM-POCE and STEAM-selPOCE in the phantom. In vivo, [4,5-¹³C]Glx could be detected using both sLASER-POCE and STEAM-POCE, with similar sensitivities, but [4,5-¹³C]Glu and [4,5-¹³C]Gln signals could not be completely resolved. STEAM-POCE was alternately performed bi-frontal and bi-occipital within a single session without repositioning of the subject, yielding similar results. With STEAM-selPOCE, [4,5-¹³C]Glu and [4,5-¹³C]Gln could be clearly separated. We have shown that with our setup indirect dynamic ¹H-[¹³C] MRS at 7 T is feasible in different locations in the brain within one session, and by using STEAM-selPOCE it is possible to separate Glu from Gln in vivo while obtaining high quality spectra.