Evaluation of Changes of Environment in Intra- and Extra-cellular Compartments using Metabolite Diffusion

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The apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) of water and metabolites observed by proton MR spectroscopy were evaluated in healthy volunteers and pathological changes in cases of acute cerebral infarction and brain tumor using a clinical MR scanner. The ADCs of NAA and Cr in cases of acute infarcion who were measured within 24 hours from onset were decreased compared to those of the normal controls. The ADC of Cho in cases of acute infarction was not much changed compared to NAA and Cr. This result suggested that the environment of Cho content was different from those of NAA and Cr.The ADCs of metabolits in tumors were increased relative to those the controls, espeialy that of NAA much increased. The ADC of Cho in tumors was also increased more than that in acute infarction. This result indicated that different change of enviroment around Cho content existed between tumors and acute infarction.These findings suggest that neuronal cell viscosity changes according to pathological status because NAA is a neuronal marker. Lactate ADC increased relative to the values of the other three major metabolites in cases of ischemia and tumor, suggesting their existence in a different compartment. These results indicate that metabolaite diffusion can be used to reveal differences in the intracellular environment depending on the pathological status.