Na and H NMR Microimaging of Intact Plants

²³Na NMR microimaging is described to map, for the first time, the sodium distribution in living plants. As an example, the response of 6-day-old seedlings of Ricinus communis to exposure to sodium chloride concentrations from 5 to 300 mM was observed in vivo using ²³Na as well as ¹H NMR microimaging. Experiments were performed at 11.75 T with a double resonant ²³Na–¹H probehead. The probehead was homebuilt and equipped with a climate chamber. T₁ and T₂ of ²³Na were measured in the cross section of the hypocotyl. Within 85 min ²³Na images with an in-plane resolution of 156 × 156 μm were acquired. With this spatial information, the different types of tissue in the hypocotyl can be discerned. The measurement time appears to be short compared to the time scale of sodium uptake and accumulation in the plant so that the kinetics of salt stress can be followed. In conclusion, ²³Na NMR microimaging promises great potential for physiological studies of the consequences of salt stress on the macroscopic level and thus may become a unique tool for characterizing plants with respect to salt tolerance and salt sensitivity.     

Comparing anisotropic diffusion filters for the enhancement of sodium magnetic resonance images

The anisotropic diffusion (AND) filter, an image processing technique derived from physics, was applied to low-resolution sodium magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine the possibilities of image enhancement by postprocessing. We compared six different variants of AND filters. Besides the qualitative good results on phantom measurements, quantitative analyses on MRI of human kidney yielded major improvements in noise reduction and other quality measures: the noise (i.e., the standard deviation in the image background) could be reduced to 1%-2% of its original value, while linear filters (Gaussian, Fermi, Hamming) achieved a reduction to 42%-64%. Besides that, less than 5% of structures and intensities are lost when using AND filters. Comparing the different variants, the two-dimensional and the three-dimensional AND filter outperformed the histogram-of-gradient and tensor-based AND filter. We envision that by using these AND filters, quantitative analysis of sodium MRI of kidney could be improved.     

In vivo K, Na and H MR imaging using a triple resonant RF coil setup

The maintenance of a gradient of potassium and sodium ions across the cell membranes is essential for the physiological function of the mammal organism. The measurement of the spatial distribution of pathologically changing ion concentrations of ²³Na and ³⁹K with magnetic resonance imaging offers a promising approach in clinical diagnostics to measure tissue viability. Existing studies were focused mainly on ²³Na imaging as well as spectroscopy with only one post-mortem study for ³⁹K imaging. In this paper a triple resonant RF coil setup for the rat head at 9.4 T is presented for imaging of both nuclei (²³Na and ³⁹K) and the acquisition of anatomical proton images in the same experiment without moving the subject or the RF coil. In vivo MR images of ³⁹K and ²³Na in the rat brain were acquired as well as anatomical proton images in the same scanning session.     

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging in the diagnosis of spinal osteomyelitis

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging (NMR) was performed on two patients whose clinical radiograph and bone scanning suggested spinal osteomyelitis before and after successful antimicrobial therapy. The images obtained suggest that NMR may be more useful in the diagnosis of this condition than other conventional imaging techniques. Hitherto NMR has not been considered particularly useful for the diagnosis of bone disease. This may be true for cortical bone, from which no signal is obtained using the NMR technique, but for medullary bone it appears to be a potentially useful, non-invasive and safe method of diagnosis.     

~(23)Na NMR方法观察硒缺乏对大白鼠红细胞钠离子浓度的影响

用无损伤~(23)Na NMR检测技术测定了正常和低硒饲料喂养的大白鼠的红细胞内钠离子浓度.结果表明:(1)缺硒可引起胞内钠离子浓度升高,(2)高钠细胞比正常细胞易溶血,(3)在饲料中补充Na_2ScO_3后可使胞内钠离子浓度恢复至正常水平,溶血情况也有所改善。     

23 Na磁共振成像的初步实验研究

介绍了用于²³Na磁共振成像实验的收发一体表面线圈的设计、制作原理与实际制作. 用制作的²³Na表面线圈在Bruker Biospec 47/30磁共振成像仪上采集了不同浓度NaCl溶液,盐腌制鹌鹑蛋和大鼠头部的²³Na密度像,为深入开展23Na磁共振成像的生物医学应用研究奠定基础.     

Determination of the (Na) Sternheimer antishielding factor by Na NMR spectroscopy on sodium oxide chloride, Na3OCl

The (Na⁺) Sternheimer antishielding factor γ_∞ (Na⁺) was determined by ²³Na NMR spectroscopy on sodium oxide chloride, Na₃OCl. The quadrupolar coupling constant of the sodium ion in Na₃OCl was determined to QCC=11.34 MHz, which presents the largest coupling constant of a sodium nucleus observed so far. Applying a simple point charge model, the largest principal value of the electric field gradient at the sodium site was calculated to V_zz=−6.76762·10²⁰ V/m². From these values we calculated the (Na⁺) Sternheimer antishielding factor to γ_∞ (Na⁺)=−5.36. In sodium oxide, Na₂O, we observed an isotropic chemical shift of δ_CS=55.1 ppm, referenced to 1 M aqueous NaCl (δ=0 ppm).     

Optical ac Stark Effect in ~(23)Na NMR Spectra

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磁共振分子影像技术

磁共振分子影像技术是磁共振成像研究领域中最新的发展方向，它是利用磁共振成像为手段来无创伤地研究活体条件下生物细胞内的正常或病理状态下的分子过程的技术. 目前磁共振分子影像技术还处于其发展的初级阶段，但它在临床医学和基础研究中都具有非常广阔的应用前景，因而发展迅速. 文章综述了近几年来国际上磁共振分子影像技术的发展概况，并简要介绍了几类磁共振分子影像常用技术和其中所用到的分子探针.     

Clean demarcation of cartilage tissue 23Na by inversion recovery

Monitoring the sodium concentration in vivo using ²³Na MRI can be an important tool for assessing the onset of tissue disorders. Practical clinical ²³Na MRI methods furthermore often do not allow one to use sufficiently small voxel sizes such that only the tissue of interest is seen, but a large signal contamination can arise from sodium in synovial fluid. Here we demonstrate that applying an inversion recovery (IR) technique allows one to distinctly select either the cartilage-bound or the free sodium for visualization in an image. The results are validated both ex vivo and in vivo.     

23Na TQF NMR imaging for the study of spinal disc tissue

A method for acquiring triple quantum filtered (TQF) (23)Na NMR images is proposed that takes advantage of the differences in transverse relaxation rates of sodium to achieve positive intensity, PI, NMR signal. This PITQF imaging sequence has been used to obtain spatially resolved one-dimensional images as a function of the TQF creation time, tau, for two human spinal disc samples. From the images the different parts of the tissue, nucleus pulposus and annulus fibrosus, can be clearly distinguished based on their signal intensity and creation time profiles. These results establish the feasibility of (23)Na TQF imaging and demonstrate that this method should be applicable for studying human disc tissues as well as spinal disc degeneration.     

核磁共振成像系列实验教学探讨

超小型核磁共振成像仪已经应用在近代物理实验教学中,该仪器可以研究各种样品的脉冲核磁共振.本文从教学内容和教学方法上对核磁共振成像实验进行了探讨·     

23Na and (1)H NMR microimaging of intact plants

(23)Na NMR microimaging is described to map, for the first time, the sodium distribution in living plants. As an example, the response of 6-day-old seedlings of Ricinus communis to exposure to sodium chloride concentrations from 5 to 300 mM was observed in vivo using (23)Na as well as (1)H NMR microimaging. Experiments were performed at 11.75 T with a double resonant (23)Na-(1)H probehead. The probehead was homebuilt and equipped with a climate chamber. T(1) and T(2) of (23)Na were measured in the cross section of the hypocotyl. Within 85 min (23)Na images with an in-plane resolution of 156 x 156 micrometer were acquired. With this spatial information, the different types of tissue in the hypocotyl can be discerned. The measurement time appears to be short compared to the time scale of sodium uptake and accumulation in the plant so that the kinetics of salt stress can be followed. In conclusion, (23)Na NMR microimaging promises great potential for physiological studies of the consequences of salt stress on the macroscopic level and thus may become a unique tool for characterizing plants with respect to salt tolerance and salt sensitivity.     

Sensitivity enhancement in (13)C solid-state NMR of protein microcrystals by use of paramagnetic metal ions for optimizing (1)H T(1) relaxation

We discuss a simple approach to enhance sensitivity for (13)C high-resolution solid-state NMR for proteins in microcrystals by reducing (1)H T(1) relaxation times with paramagnetic relaxation reagents. It was shown that (1)H T(1) values can be reduced from 0.4-0.8s to 60-70 ms for ubiquitin and lysozyme in D(2)O in the presence of 10 mM Cu(II)Na(2)EDTA without substantial degradation of the resolution in (13)C CPMAS spectra. Faster signal accumulation using the shorter (1)H T(1) attained by paramagnetic doping provided sensitivity enhancements of 1.4-2.9 for these proteins, reducing the experimental time for a given signal-to-noise ratio by a factor of 2.0-8.4. This approach presented here is likely to be applicable to various other proteins in order to enhance sensitivity in (13)C high-resolution solid-state NMR spectroscopy.     

Sodium T2*-weighted MR imaging of acute focal cerebral ischemia in rabbits

Changes in T2*-weighted tissue sodium (23Na) signal following acute ischemia may help to identify necrotic tissue and estimate the duration of ischemia. Sodium signal was monitored in a rabbit model of acute (0-4 h) focal cerebral ischemia, using gradient echo 23Na MR images (echo time = 3.2 ms) acquired continuously in 20-min intervals on a 4-Tesla MRI. 2,3,5-Triphenyl-tetrazolium chloride staining was used to identify regions of necrosis. In necrotic tissue, average 23Na image signal intensity decreased by 11% +/- 8% during the first 40 min of ischemia followed by a linear increase (0.19%/min) to 25% +/- 14% greater than baseline after 4 h of ischemia. The time course of 23Na signal change observed in necrotic tissue following focal ischemia in this rabbit model is consistent with an initial decrease in 23Na T2* relaxation time followed by an increase in tissue sodium concentration and provides further evidence that tissue 23Na signal may offer unique information regarding tissue viability that is complementary to other MR imaging techniques.     

NMR imaging of white button mushroom (Agaricus bisporis) at various magnetic fields

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have been applied to visualize physiological phenomena in plants and agricultural crops. Imaging sequences that result in contrast of a combination of parameters (e.g., proton density, ) cannot be used for a correct and unique interpretation of the results. In this study multiecho imaging together with monoexponential T₂ decay fitting was applied to determine reliable proton density and T₂ distributions over a mushroom. This was done at three magnetic field strengths (9.4, 4.7, and 0.47 T) because susceptibility inhomogeneities were suspected to influence the T₂ relaxation times negatively, and because the inflences of susceptibility inhomogeneities increase with a rise in magnetic field strength. Electron microscopy was used to understand the different T₂'s for the various tissue types in mushrooms. Large influences of the tissue ultrastructure on the observed T₂ relaxation times were found and explained. Based on the results, it is concluded that imaging mushrooms at low fields (around or below 0.47T) and short echo times has strong advantages over its high-field counterpart, especially with respect to quantitative imaging of the water balance of mushrooms. These conclusions indicate general validity whenever NMR imaging contrast is influenced by susceptibility inhomogeneities.     

High-field 19.6T 27Al solid-state MAS NMR of in vitro aluminated brain tissue

The combination of (27)Al high-field solid-state NMR (19.6T) with rapid spinning speeds (17.8 kHz) is used to acquire (27)Al NMR spectra of total RNA human brain temporal lobe tissues exposed to 0.10 mM Al(3+) (as AlCl(3)) and of human retinal pigment epithelial cells (ARPE-19), grown in 0.10 mM AlCl(3). The spectra of these model systems show multiple Al(3+) binding sites, good signal/noise ratios and apparent chemical shift dispersions. A single broad peak (-3 to 11 ppm) is seen for the aluminated ARPE-19 cells, consistent with reported solution-state NMR chemical shifts of Al-transferrin. The aluminated brain tissue has a considerably different (27)Al MAS NMR spectrum. In addition to the transferrin-type resonance, additional peaks are seen. Tentative assignments include: -9 to -3 ppm, octahedral AlO(6) (phosphate and water); 9 ppm, condensed AlO(6) units (Al-O-Al bridges); 24 ppm, tetrahedral AlO(3)N and/or octahedral Al-carbonate; and 35 ppm, more N-substituted aluminum and /or tetrahedral AlO(4). Thus, brain tissue is susceptible to a broad range of coordination by aluminum. Furthermore, the moderate (27)Al C(Q) values (all less than 10 MHz) suggest future NMR studies may be performed at 9.4T and a spin rate of 20 kHz.     

Magnetic Resonance Imaging on Sodium Nuclei: Potential Medical Applications of <Superscript>23</Superscript>Na MRI

Sodium is a key element in a living organism. The increase of its concentration is an indicator of many pathological conditions. ²³Na magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a quantitative method that allows to determine the sodium content in tissues and organs in vivo. This method has not yet entered clinical practice widely, but it has already been used as a clinical research tool to investigate diseases such as brain tumors, breast cancer, stroke, multiple sclerosis, hypertension, diabetes, ischemic heart disease, osteoarthritis. The active development of the ²³Na MRI is promoted by the growth of available magnetic fields, the expansion of hardware capabilities, and the development of pulse sequences with ultra-short echo time.     

A new method for suppressing the central transition in I=3/2 NMR spectra with a demonstration for 23Na in bovine articular cartilage

The splitting and the lineshape of the satellite transitions of 23Na are measures of the residual quadrupolar interaction and its distribution, which are related to the degrees of order and binding of sodium in biological tissues. However, these transitions are often masked by the stronger signals of the central transition and the isotropic sodium ions. A way to suppress the central signals, while preserving the lineshape and the intensity of the satellites, is suggested and tested on a liquid crystal and on bovine articular cartilage.     

Selective F MR imaging of 5-fluorouracil and α-fluoro-β-alanine

A ¹⁹F MR chemical shift imaging (CSI) technique is presented which enables selective imaging of the antineoplastic drug 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and its major catabolite α-fluoro-β-alanine (FBAL). The CSI sequence employs a chemical shift selective (CHESS) saturation pulse to suppress either the 5-FU or the FBAL resonance before the other component of the two-line ¹⁹F MR spectrum is measured. Because the transmitter frequency can always be set to the Larmor frequency of the ¹⁹F resonance to be imaged, this approach yields 5-FU and FBAL MR images free of chemical shift artifacts in read-out and slice-selection direction. In phantom experiments, selective 5-FU and FBAL images with a spatial resolution of 15 × 15 × 20 mm³ (4.5 ml) were obtained in 30 min from a model solution, whose drug and catabolite concentrations were similar to those estimated in the liver of tumor patients undergoing IV chemotherapy with 5-FU. The drug-specific MR imaging technique developed is, therefore, well-suited for the direct and noninvasive monitoring of the up-take and trapping of 5-FU in liver tumors in vivo.