Metabolic alterations in focally activated primary somatosensory cortex of α-chloralose-anesthetized rats measured by 1H MRS at 11.7 T

Previously, magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies of alterations in cerebral metabolite concentration during functional activation have been focused on phosphocreatine using 31P MRS and lactate using 1H MRS with controversial results. Recently, significant improvements on the spectral resolution and sensitivity of in vivo spectroscopy have been made at ultrahigh magnetic field strength. Using highly resolved localized short-TE 1H MRS at 11.7 T, we report metabolic responses of rat somatosensory cortex to forepaw stimulation in α-chloralose-anesthetized rats. The phosphocreatine/creatine ratio was found to be significantly decreased by 15.1 ± 4.6% (mean ± SEM, P < 0.01). Lactate remained very low (∼<0.3 μmol/g w/w) with no statistically significant changes observed during forepaw stimulation at a temporal resolution of 10.7 min. An increase in glutamine and a decrease in glutamate and myo-inositol were also detected in the stimulated state. Our results suggest that, under the experimental conditions used in this study, increased energy consumption due to focal activation causes a shift in the creatine kinase reaction towards the direction of adenosine triphosphate production. At the same time, metabolic matching prevails during increased energy consumption with no significant increase in the glycolytic product lactate in the focally activated primary somatosensory cortex of α-chloralose-anesthetized rats.