Lactate topography of the human brain using hyperpolarized 13C-MRI
Casey Y. Lee,
Hany Soliman,
Benjamin J. Geraghty,
Albert P. Chen,
Kim A. Connelly,
Ruby Endre,
William J. Perks,
Chris Heyn,
Sandra E. Black,
Charles H. Cunningham
Affiliations
Casey Y. Lee
Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Radiation Oncology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada
Hany Soliman
Radiation Oncology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada
Benjamin J. Geraghty
Physical Sciences, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Albert P. Chen
GE Healthcare, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Kim A. Connelly
Keenan Research Centre, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
Ruby Endre
Physical Sciences, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
William J. Perks
Pharmacy, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada
Chris Heyn
Radiology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada
Sandra E. Black
Department of Medicine (Neurology) and Hurvitz Brain Sciences Research Program, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada
Charles H. Cunningham
Physical Sciences, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Corresponding author. Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, 2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M4N 3M5, Canada.
Lactate is now recognized as an important intermediate in brain metabolism, but its role is still under investigation. In this work we mapped the distribution of lactate and bicarbonate produced from intravenously injected 13C-pyruvate over the whole brain using a new imaging method, hyperpolarized 13C MRI (N = 14, ages 23 to 77). Segmenting the 13C-lactate images into brain atlas regions revealed a pattern of lactate that was preserved across individuals. Higher lactate signal was observed in cortical grey matter compared to white matter and was highest in the precuneus, cuneus and lingual gyrus. Bicarbonate signal, indicating flux of [1–13C]pyruvate into the TCA cycle, also displayed consistent spatial distribution. One-way ANOVA to test for significant differences in lactate among atlas regions gave F = 87.6 and p < 10−6. This report of a “lactate topography” in the human brain and its consistent pattern is evidence of region-specific lactate biology that is preserved across individuals.
