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Contrary to prevailing views, recent work suggests that steady-state water exchange between the intra- and extracellular space is driven, in part, by active metabolic processes. To support these findings, we investigate whether exchange exhibits multiexponential behavior consistent with distinct exchange processes. We find a bimodal distribution of exchange times in live neural tissue, with only the faster peak being reduced upon the introduction of a sodium-potassium pump inhibitor, thus supporting the existence of active exchange. Furthermore, we describe a time-efficient method of isolating exchange and fitting multiexponential exchange times using diffusion exchange spectroscopy, paving the way for future studies.
Cai et al. (Wed,) studied this question.