Metabolism in single rat brain slices measured by magnetic resonance spectroscopy

• Published in: Brain research. Brain research protocols 1999-04, Vol.4 (1), p.97-102
• Main Authors: Gasparovic, Charles, King, Delaine, Feeney, Dennis M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adenosine Triphosphate - metabolism; Anaerobiosis - physiology; Animals; Brain - metabolism; Brain slice; Energy Metabolism - physiology; Hippocampus - metabolism; In Vitro Techniques; Lactic Acid - metabolism; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy - methods; Neocortex - metabolism; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Phosphocreatine - metabolism; Prosencephalon - metabolism; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley
• ISSN: 1385-299X
• DOI: 10.1016/S1385-299X(99)00010-0

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) has been used to study brain biochemistry in superfused brain slice preparations for over a decade. However, unlike techniques that monitor electrical activity, ion fluxes, or the release of radio-labeled compounds in single brain slices, MRS studies have required samples composed of several slices and inherently poor anatomical specificity in order to achieve adequate signal-to-noise levels, spectral resolution, or, in the case of 1 H MRS, a high degree of artifact-free water signal suppression. We report that gradient-enhanced 1 H MRS techniques combined with a simple slice positioning and perfusion technique yield high-quality spectra from single 400 μm rat forebrain or neocortical–hippocampal slices within 15 min of data acquisition time. Spectra of comparable quality were obtained from samples with three neocortical or three hippocampal slices within the same time frame. The assessment of anaerobic energy metabolism in single slices by 1 H MRS is also demonstrated. In addition to greater anatomical resolution in studies on brain slice biochemistry, single slice MRS also presents the possibility of correlating, within the same slice, 1 H MRS-detectable metabolite levels with other physiological measurements commonly performed on single brain slices. Themes: Cellular and Molecular Biology Topics: Staining, tracing, and imaging techniques