Two‐dimensional 1H spectroscopic imaging for evaluating the local metabolic response to focal ischemia in the conscious rat

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Abstract
Two-dimensional 1H spectroscopic imaging and magnetic resonance imaging were used to study focal ischemia induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion in rats. A water suppressing spin-echo sequence was used at 4.7 T. Phase encoding during the spin-echo delay (TE = 272 ms) yielded an 8 × 8 array of 35 μL voxels. The injured area of the brain had a higher lactate level and markedly lower N-acetyl aspartate, creatine and choline levels than did the non-ischemic regions. The spectroscopic imaging data clearly showed the localization of the infarct, which agreed well with both magnetic resonance imaging and the histological data obtained post-mortem. This study demonstrates the potential usefulness of combining magnetic resonance imaging and 1H spectroscopic imaging for studying animal models of stroke, and indicates the suitability of the technique for further pharmacological approaches.