Modeling [15O]oxygen tracer data for estimating oxygen consumption.

The most direct measure of oxidative tissue metabolism is the conversion rate of oxygen to water via mitochondrial respiration. To calculate oxygen consumption from the analysis of tissue residue curves or outflow dilution curves after injection of labeled oxygen one needs realistic mathematical models that account for convection, diffusion, and transformation in the tissue. A linear, three-region, axially distributed model accounts for intravascular convection, penetration of capillary and parenchymal cell barriers (with the use of appropriate binding spaces to account for oxygen binding to hemoglobin and myoglobin), the metabolism to [15O]water in parenchymal cells, and [15O]water transport into the venous effluent. Model solutions fit residue and outflow dilution data obtained in an isolated, red blood cell-perfused rabbit heart preparation and give estimates of the rate of oxygen consumption similar to those obtained experimentally from the flow times the arteriovenous differences in oxygen contents. The proposed application is for the assessment of regional oxidative metabolism in vivo from tissue 15O-residue curves obtained by positron emission tomography.