Cardiac metabolism & energy production

This technique can produce up to 10’000-times higher signal than conventional MRI.

We established this technique (in collaboration with Prof. A. Comment CIBM-EPFL) to measure non-invasively glycolysis, Krebs-cycle activity, and beta-oxidation in the ischemia/reperfusion model of the rat (SNF grant, PI. J. Schwitter).

An extension of the SNF grant allows for future research applications to explore the myocardial metabolism in ischemia/reperfusion, heart failure, cardiomyopathies, and to assess novel treatment strategies in these diseases.

Hyperpolarized 13C experimental set-up (A). Representative spectra after [1-13C]pyruvate injection into a rat immediately upon reperfusion of the LAD territory (B) and corresponding metabolite curves (C). In D, the area-at-risk is shown (Evans blue staining). Source: H. Yoshihara, Am. J. Phys – Heart and Circ, 2015.

A total of 73 articles were published as a result of the CRMC research activity since its foundation in 2009.