Long echo time proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy for estimating relative measures of lipid unsaturation at 3 T.

PURPOSE

To examine the behavior of lipid olefinic and diallylic resonances as a function of PRESS (point resolved spectroscopy) echo time (TE) to determine an optimal long TE value for their measurement at 3 T.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Experiments were conducted on nine oils (almond, canola, cod liver, corn, linseed, peanut, sesame, sunflower, and walnut oil) and on vertebral and tibial bone marrow in vivo at 3 T. The methylene (or methyl + methylene), diallylic, and olefinic resonances were measured with PRESS with multiple TEs.

RESULTS

J-coupling evolution effects on the olefinic and diallylic peaks appeared to be minimized when TE = 200 msec. The TE = 200 msec olefinic/methylene and diallylic/methylene peak area ratios calculated for each oil correlated well with ratios deduced from oil compositions in the literature (R(2) = 0.92 and 0.98 for the olefinic and diallylic protons, respectively). In addition, the relative amounts of bone marrow unsaturation of vertebral and tibial bone marrow inferred from the TE = 200 msec olefinic/(methyl + methylene) peak area ratio agreed with values estimated from the literature.

CONCLUSION

A PRESS sequence with a long TE value of 200 msec is suitable for determining relative amounts of lipid unsaturation at 3 T.