Intravascular and Intracellular Hepatic Relaxivities of Superparamagnetic Particles: An Isolated and Perfused Organ Pharmacokinetics Study

The relative contributions of intravascular and intracellular compartments to the proton transverse relaxation of the isolated and excised rat liver were determined during the phagocytosis of superparamagnetic particles. The evolution of the proton transverse magnetization of the organ perfused with increasing doses of starch-coated magnetic microspheres was followed up using a Carr–Purcell–Meiboom–Gill sequence with various echo times. From the multiexponential fit of the echo train, the amplitudes and the relaxation ratesR₂of the liver tissue were obtained. The results clearly indicate that shortly after contrast medium administration, an internalization takes place which can be followed by the rapid and biphasic evolution of the transverse relaxation rate of the water protons. A very fast decaying component looking like an initial loss of the magnetization is observed together with an increase of the relaxation rate of the remaining water tissue. This regime is strongly dependent on both the echo time and the iron concentration, a behavior characteristic of the agglomeration of magnetic particles. The examination of the liver tissues by electron microscopy shows that this clustering arises in cytoplasmic vacuoles.     

The influence of chemical and diffusive exchange on water proton transverse relaxation in plant tissues

Transverse water proton relaxation in parenchyma tissue of courgette, onion and apple shows a dependence on CPMG pulse spacing characteristic of each tissue. An analysis of this dependence suggests that transverse relaxation in these tissues is caused by various combinations of fast proton exchange between water and cell biopolymers (or solutes) and diffusion through internally generated magnetic field gradients. Diffusion between intra- and extracellular water compartments also averages the water proton signal to an extent that depends on cell morphology and membrane permeability and this is calculated using a two-compartment model. No recourse need be made to popular concepts such as exchange between free and "bound" water. The implications of our results for NMR image contrast are discussed.     

Proton N.M.R. studies of chemical and diffusive exchange in carbohydrate systems

A computer-simulated stochastic model is developed capable of predicting the combined effects of chemical and diffusive exchange on the transverse relaxation of spin-1/2 nuclei in a heterogeneous system. Comparison is first made with previous analytical theories for the special case of two site chemical exchange in a homogeneous system and the experimental data on several homogeneous aqueous carbohydrate systems are analysed. Results show that transverse water proton relaxation in these systems is dominated by proton exchange between water and carbohydrate hydroxyl groups. Analysis of model heterogeneous carbohydrate systems shows that in addition to chemical exchange, diffusion coefficients, particle morphology and local magnetic field gradients all have a role to play in determining the proton relaxation behaviour.     

The effects of morphology and exchange on proton N.M.R. relaxation in agarose gels

The effects of morphology and exchange on N.M.R. relaxation times in agarose gels are interpreted within a unified theoretical framework based on the generalized Bloch equations. By acknowledging the spacial dependence of the N.M.R. parameters it is shown how the relaxation behaviour depends on the distance scale characterizing the heterogeneity of the gel. If this distance scale is sufficiently small to allow complete diffusive averaging we recover the traditional results based on the Bloch-McConnell equations describing relaxation in a homogeneous system. This is the case for fresh agarose gels which show monoexponential relaxation and has been widely interpreted in terms of the rapid exchange of protons between populations of ‘free’ and ‘bound’ water. Conversely, if the distance scale characterizing the heterogeneity is sufficiently large to prevent complete diffusive averaging our model predicts multiexponential relaxation. This is the case with the transverse magnetization in agarose gels that have been slowly frozen then thawed. These results show how it is possible to probe the degree of microheterogeneity in gel samples using N.M.R. For the purpose of deriving simple analytical expressions for the N.M.R. relaxation times we only consider one-dimensional solutions to our model. More realistic morphologies can be treated using numerical methods.     

NMR Study of Water Distribution inside Tomato Cells: Effects of Water Stress

Tomato pericarp tissue was studied by low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxometry. Two kinds of experiments were performed to investigate the correlation between multi-exponential NMR relaxation and the subcellular compartments. The longitudinal (T ₁) versus transverse (T ₂) relaxation times were first measured on fresh samples and then the transverse relaxation time was measured on samples exposed to water stress. Four signal components were found in all experiments. The results showed that all signal components corresponded to the water in different cell compartments, and that no signal from non-exchangeable protons was present. Moreover, we demonstrated that NMR relaxation is suitable for the continuous monitoring of water rebalancing between subcellular compartments of plant tissues.     

Modelling of self-diffusion and relaxation time NMR in multicompartment systems with cylindrical geometry

Multicompartment characteristics of relaxation and diffusion in a model for (plant) cells and tissues have been simulated as a means to test separating the signal into a set of these compartments. A numerical model of restricted diffusion and magnetization relaxation behavior in PFG-CPMG NMR experiments, based on Fick's second law of diffusion, has been extended for two-dimensional diffusion in systems with concentric cylindrical compartments separated by permeable walls. This model is applicable to a wide range of (cellular) systems and allows the exploration of temporal and spatial behavior of the magnetization with and without the influence of gradient pulses. Numerical simulations have been performed to show the correspondence between the obtained results and previously reported studies and to investigate the behavior of the apparent diffusion coefficients for the multicompartment systems with planar and cylindrical geometry. The results clearly demonstrate the importance of modelling two-dimensional diffusion in relation to the effect of restrictions, permeability of the membranes, and the bulk relaxation within the compartments. In addition, the consequences of analysis by multiexponential curve fitting are investigated.     

The interpretation of multi-exponential water proton transverse relaxation in the human and porcine eye lens

We report results of 1H NMR transverse relaxation experiments on human and porcine eye lenses. Several authors have reported that transverse relaxation is not mono-exponential when observed by the Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) sequence and have interpreted the results by postulating the presence of "pools" of water molecules in different binding environments that do not exchange rapidly on the NMR timescale. We have compared CPMG data for intact lenses with results for lens homogenates and have combined a CPMG spectroscopic pulse train with NMR micro-imaging to study the nature of the transverse relaxation process in human and porcine lenses. Fast exchange of water protons with the lens proteins (crystallins) leads to an enhanced transverse relaxation rate that varies linearly with protein concentration. At the resolution of NMR micro-imaging the transverse relaxation process is mono-exponential. The results show that the multi-exponential CPMG data observed spectroscopically for whole lenses reflect spatial variations in crystallin content through the lens rather than the presence of distinct "bound" and "free" water pools.     

NMR relaxation of protons in tissues and other macromolecular water solutions

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) longitudinal (T₁) and transverse (T₂) relaxation parameters have been evaluated for protein solutions, cellular suspensions and tissues using both data from our laboratory and the extensive literature. It is found that this data can be generalized and explained in terms of three water phases: free water, hydration water, and crystalline water. The proposed model which we refer to as the FPD model differs from similar models in that it assumes that free and hydration water are two phases with distinct relaxation times but that T₁ = T₂ in each phase. In addition there is a single correlation time for each rather than a distribution as assumed in most other models. Longitudinal decay is predicted to be single exponent in character resulting from a fast exchange between the free and hydration compartments. Transverse decay is predicted to be multiphasic with crystalline (T₂ 10 μsec), hydration (T₂ 10 sec) and free (T₂ 100 sec) water normally visible. The observed or effective transverse relaxation times for both the hydration and free water phases are greatly affected by the crystalline phase and are much shorter than the inherent relaxation times.     

Multicomponent water proton transverse relaxation and T2-discriminated water diffusion in myelinated and nonmyelinated nerve

The influence of compartmental boundaries on water proton transverse relaxation and diffusion measurements was investigated in three distinct excised nerves, namely, the non-myelinated olfactory nerve, the Schwann cell myelinated trigeminal nerve, and the oligodendrocyte myelinated optic nerve of the garfish. The transverse relaxation decay curves were multiexponential and their decomposition yielded three primary components with T₂ values 30–50, 150, and 500 ms, which were subsequently assigned to water protons in the myelin, axoplasm, and interaxonal compartments. The short T₂ component was absent in the non-myelinated olfactory nerve, but present in both myelinated nerves and thus provides supporting evidence for the use of quantitative T₂ measurements to measure the degree of myelination. The signal contribution of each T₂ component to the apparent diffusion coefficient measurements was varied by incrementing the spin-echo time with a preparatory CPMG train of radiofrequency pulses. The apparent diffusion coefficient and its anisotropy were shown to be independent of the spin-echo time over the range of 70 to 450 ms.     

Influence of water based embedding media composition on the relaxation properties of fixed tissue

BackgroundIn MRI of formalin-fixed tissue one of the problems is the dependence of tissue relaxation properties on formalin composition and composition of embedding medium (EM) used for scanning. In this study, we investigated molecular mechanisms by which the EM composition affects T2 relaxation directly and T1 relaxation indirectly.ObjectiveTo identify principal components of formaldehyde based EM and the mechanism by which they affect relaxation properties of fixed tissue.MethodsWe recorded high resolution ¹H NMR spectra of common formalin fixatives at temperatures in the range of 5 °C to 45 °C. We also measured T1 and T2 relaxation times of various organs of formalin fixed (FF) zebrafish at 7 T at 21 °C and 31 °C in several EM with and without fixative or gadolinium contrast agents.ResultsWe showed that the major source of T2 variability is chemical exchange between protons from EM hydroxyls and water, mediated by the presence of phosphate ions. The exchange rate increases with temperature, formaldehyde concentration in EM and phosphate concentration in EM. Depending on which side of the coalescence the system resides, the temperature increase can lead to either shortening or prolongation of T2, or to no noticeable change at all when very close to the coalescence. Chemical exchange can be minimized by washing out from EM the fixative, the phosphate or both.ConclusionThe dependence of T2 in fixed tissue on the fixative origin and composition described in prior literature could be attributed to the phosphate buffer accelerated chemical exchange among the fixative hydroxyls and the tissue water. More consistent results in the relaxation measurements could be obtained by stricter control of the fixative composition or by scanning fixed tissue in PBS without fixative.     

利用CαH系统的零量子-双量子混合相干的弛豫测量研究蛋白质动力学(英文)

越来越多的证据说明,"传统"的弛豫测量(T1, T2, NOE)不足以完整描述蛋白质的复杂动态,如化学交换、构型交换或相互作用导致的动态改变.涉及到多量子相干弛豫机制可以提供额外的动态信息.该文测量2个蛋白质的CαH系统的混合零量子和双量子弛豫速率随CPMG序列中脉冲间隔及温度的变化来探讨蛋白质中的动态及温度的影响.发现2种蛋白之质中均存在可观的交换效应,且与残基位置有关.进一步的分析表明,两位点交换模型不足以解释蛋白质的复杂动态.     

Low-field one-dimensional and direction-dependent relaxation imaging of bovine articular cartilage

The structure of articular cartilage is separated into three layers of differently oriented collagen fibers, which is accompanied by a gradient of increasing glycosaminoglycan (GAG) and decreasing water concentration from the top layer towards the bone interface. The combined effect of these structural variations results in a change of the longitudinal and transverse relaxation times as a function of the distance from the cartilage surface. In this paper, this dependence is investigated at a magnetic field strength of 0.27 T with a one-dimensional depth resolution of 50 μm on bovine hip and stifle joint articular cartilage. By employing this method, advantage is taken of the increasing contrast of the longitudinal relaxation rate found at lower magnetic field strengths. Furthermore, evidence for an orientational dependence of relaxation times with respect to an axis normal to the surface plane is given, an observation that has recently been reported using high-field MRI and that was explained by preferential orientations of collagen bundles in each of the three cartilage zones. In order to quantify the extent of a further contrast mechanism and to estimate spatially dependent glycosaminoglycan concentrations, the data are supplemented by proton relaxation times that were acquired in bovine articular cartilage that was soaked in a 0.8 mM aqueous Gd++ solution.     

Mapping the parameter space of a T2-dependent model of water diffusion MR in brain tissue

We present a new model for describing the diffusion-weighted (DW) proton nuclear magnetic resonance signal obtained from normal grey matter. Our model is analytical and, in some respects, is an extension of earlier model schemes. We model tissue as composed of three separate compartments with individual properties of diffusion and transverse relaxation. Our study assumes slow exchange between compartments. We attempt to take cell morphology into account, along with its effect on water diffusion in tissues. Using this model, we simulate diffusion-sensitive MR signals and compare model output to experimental data from human grey matter. In doing this comparison, we perform a global search for good fits in the parameter space of the model. The characteristic nonmonoexponential behavior of the signal as a function of experimental b value is reproduced quite well, along with established values for tissue-specific parameters such as volume fraction, tortuosity and apparent diffusion coefficient. We believe that the presented approach to modeling diffusion in grey matter adds new aspects to the treatment of a longstanding problem.     

MSE-MRI sequence optimisation for measurement of bi- and tri-exponential T2 relaxation in a phantom and fruit

The transverse relaxation signal from vegetal cells can be described by multi-exponential behaviour, reflecting different water compartments. This multi-exponential relaxation is rarely measured by conventional MRI imaging protocols; mono-exponential relaxation times are measured instead, thus limiting information about of the microstructure and water status in vegetal cells. In this study, an optimised multiple spin echo (MSE) MRI sequence was evaluated for assessment of multi-exponential transverse relaxation in fruit tissues. The sequence was designed for the acquisition of a maximum of 512 echoes. Non-selective refocusing RF pulses were used in combination with balanced crusher gradients for elimination of spurious echoes. The study was performed on a bi-compartmental phantom with known T₂ values and on apple and tomato fruit. T₂ decays measured in the phantom and fruit were analysed using bi- and tri-exponential fits, respectively. The MRI results were compared with low field non-spatially resolved NMR measurements performed on the same samples.     

NMR relaxation interference effects and internal dynamics in gamma-cyclodextrin

Multiple-magnetic field (9.4, 14.1 and 21.1 T) measurements of (13)C spin-lattice and spin-spin relaxation rates, the heteronuclear Overhauser enhancement and cross-correlated relaxation rates (CCRRs) in the methylene groups are reported for gamma-cyclodextrin in water/dimethylsulfoxide solution at 323 and 343K. The CCRRs are obtained from differences in the initial relaxation rates of the components of the CH(2) triplet in the (13)C spectra. The relaxation data are analyzed using the Lipari-Szabo approach and a novel modification of the two-site jump model. According to the latter model, inclusion of the dipolar (CH,CH(')) cross-correlated longitudinal and transverse relaxation is important for estimating the rate of the conformational jumps in the hydroxymethyl group. Using the dynamic information from the jump model, we have also used the differences in the initial relaxation rates for the triplet components to estimate the anisotropy of the chemical shielding tensor.     

Study of Water States in Different Hydrated and Consolidated Clay Using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

ABSTRACT

The aim of the present work was to test low-resolution NMR to characterize and quantify the state of water in some clay materials such as illite, montmorillonite, and bentonite with water content and in a compacted state. Low-field ¹H-NMR spectroscopy (0.54 T) was used to determine the most mobile fraction of water in different types of clay materials by analyzing free induction decay (FID) and Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) relaxation curves at 20°C, ?7°C, and ?25°C. Results have shown that a fast exchange occurs between the first bound monolayer of water and the following ones for illite, montmorillonite, and bentonite; a multiexponential decay of some CPMG relaxation curves was also observed. FID measurements at ?25°C showed that 83% of the water in illite (41% water content), 44% in montmorillonite (31% w.c.), and 52% in bentonite (27% w.c.) is frozen at this temperature. Treatment of signals obtained with bentonite compacted in capillaries (28% w.c.) was complicated by a signal coming from the capillaries themselves and an increase in internal magnetic field gradients, which led to a dual quantification whose most likely result is 39% of freezable water.     

A faster way to characterize by triple-quantum-filtered (17)O NMR water molecules strongly bound to macromolecules in solution

The simultaneous use of transverse and longitudinal relaxation rates, together with a transverse triple-quantum-filtering NMR sequence, was estimated for the adequate characterization of (17)O-water relaxation behavior in protein solutions. A complementary contribution to transverse relaxation was found, which was interpreted as chemical exchange of (17)O-water between different sites of the proteins. This contribution was estimated via calibration measurements. Then, for other similar samples, faster experiments could be performed. The analysis of the results obtained in this way gave adequate values of the relaxation rate of water in fast motion, of the fraction of water in slow motion, and of its correlation time. Hence, it permitted the complete characterization of the sample in a reasonable experimental time.     

NMR study of water exchange across the hepatocyte membrane

An understanding of the cellular permeability for water is needed to evaluate MR images of complex tissues, such as liver, and to interpret the effects of contrast agents. To obtain data essential for such an understanding we measured water exchange across the isolated rodent hepatocyte membrane by proton NMR relaxation with dextranmagnetite as a relaxation agent. The results are treated as water exchange in a two-compartment system, and possible reasons for deviations from that behavior are analyzed. The mean residence time of intracellular water was approximately 40 ms at 37 degrees C. We found the lower limit for the diffusional permeability of the hepatocyte membrane to be 8 x 10(-3) cm s-1. These results, combined with consideration of hepatic anatomy indicate that the failure to observe effects on the T1 of liver from particulate contrast agents such as magnetite, Gd-starch, and liposome encapsulated Mn2+ is due to the localization of these agents in the Kupffer cells. Also, the nonexponential T1 decay observed in normal liver is unlikely to be due to slow exchange of water between compartments.     

Propagator resolved transverse relaxation exchange spectroscopy

We present in this communication a novel propagator-resolved transverse relaxation exchange experiment. This experiment enhances the previous technique of transverse relaxation exchange by enabling spatial resolution. Hence, we are able to obtain separate, and remarkably different, T2-T2 exchange plots, corresponding to different spatial displacement of the spin bearing water molecules in a porous sand matrix. This experiment is the first to combine two inverse Laplace dimensions with a Fourier dimension, opening the door to a host of new experiments combining Fourier and inverse Laplace spectroscopy.