Evaluation of minimal dosage of deuterated glucose for mapping of hepatic metabolism by DMI and natural abundance carbon-13 spectroscopy at 7 T

We present an estimation of the minimal dose for D-glucose needed for evaluation of hepatic glucose dynamics by deuterium metabolic imaging (DMI) and investigate whether a subsequent change in hepatic glycogen content is observable by 13C-MRS at 7 T. Six healthy subjects received an oral glucose load of 60g, 20g or 10g and were examined with interleaved 2H-MRSI/13C-MRS scans for 150 min. Results suggest the feasibility of reducing D-glucose loads to as low as 10g per subject for hepatic DMI with several benefits ‑ including cost, but precision of determination of changes in hepatic glycogen content is substantially reduced.