Brief Article
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World J Gastroenterol. Mar 7, 2013; 19(9): 1472-1477
Published online Mar 7, 2013. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v19.i9.1472
3.0 T proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the liver: Quantification of choline
Li Xu, Bo Liu, Yan Huang, Xian Liu, Si-Wei Zhang, Xue-Gang Xin, Jin-Zhi Zheng
Li Xu, Bo Liu, Xian Liu, Si-Wei Zhang, Ji-Zhi Zheng, Department of Radiology, Guangdong Provincial Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital and Postdoctoral Mobile Research Station of Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510120, Guangdong Province, China
Yan Huang, Department of Neurology, Guangdong Provincial Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital and Postdoctoral Mobile Research Station of Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510120, Guangdong Province, China
Xue-Gang Xin, School of Biomedical Engineering, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
Author contributions: Xu L, Liu B, Huang Y, Liu X and Zhang SW contributed equally to this work; Xu L performed the majority of experiments and wrote the manuscript; Liu B, Huang Y, Liu X, Zhang SW, Xin XG and Zheng JZ provided vital reagents and analytical tools and were also involved in revising the manuscript; Xu L designed the study.
Supported by The Science Foundation of Guangdong Province for Dr. Startup Project, No. S2012040006618; Postdoctoral Fund of Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 20120621; Traditional Chinese Medicine and Integration of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Research Project of Guangzhou, No. 20122A011032; The National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30700184, 61172034, 81271654, 81271569 and 81171329; Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province, China, No. 2008B080703041, 2010B080701025 and 2011B031700014
Correspondence to: Li Xu, MD, Department of Radiology, Guangdong Provincial Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital and Postdoctoral Mobile Research Station of Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 111 Da De Lu, Guangzhou 510120, Guangdong Province, China. 985592610@qq.com
Telephone: +86-20-81887233  Fax: +86-20-81887233
Received: September 25, 2012
Revised: February 6, 2013
Accepted: February 8, 2013
Published online: March 7, 2013
Processing time: 168 Days and 3.7 Hours
Abstract

AIM: To investigate the normal hepatic magnetic resonance spectroscopy findings choline/lipid2 (Cho/Lip2) associated with age and body mass index (BMI).

METHODS: A total of 58 single-voxel proton spectra of the liver were acquired at 3.0 T using the eight-channel phased array abdominal coil as the receiver coil. Consecutive stacks of breath-hold spectra were acquired using the point resolved spectroscopy technique at a short echo time of 30 ms and a repetition time of 1500 ms. The spectra were processed with the SAGE software package. Areas and heights for metabolite resonance were obtained. Student’s t test for unpaired data was used for comparisons of shimming, Cho/Lip2, and lipid content.

RESULTS: There were significant negative correlations between the Cho/Lip2 peak height ratios and BMI (r = -0.615) and age (r = -0.398) (all P < 0.01). Compared with the high-BMI group, the low-BMI group was younger (39.1 ± 13.0 years vs 47.6 ± 8.5 years, t = -2.954, P = 0.005); had better water suppression (93.4% ± 1.4% vs 85.6% ± 11.6%, t = 2.741, P = 0.014); had higher Cho/Lip2 peak heights ratio (0.2 ± 0.14 vs 0.05 ± 0.04, t = 6.033, P < 0.000); and had lower lipid content (0.03 ± 0.08 vs 0.29 ± 0.31, t = -3.309, P = 0.004). Compared with the older group, the younger group had better shimming effects (17.1 ± 3.6 Hz vs 22.0 ± 6.8 Hz, t = -2.919, P = 0.008); higher Cho/Lip2 peak heights ratios (0.03 ± 0.05 vs 0.09 ± 0.12, t = 2.4, P = 0.020); and lower lipid content (0.05 ± 0.11 vs 0.23 ± 0.32, t = -2.337, P = 0.031). Compared with the low-choline peak group, the high-choline peak group had lower lipid content (0.005 ± 0.002 vs 0.13 ± 0.23, t = -3.796, P < 0.000); lower BMI (19.6 ± 2.4 vs 23.9 ± 3.0, t = -4.410, P < 0.000); and younger age (34.7 ± 10.0 years vs 43.2 ± 12.5 years, t = -2.088, P = 0.041).

CONCLUSION: Lipid accumulation could result from the increased fat in the body depending on age and BMI. Lipid can mask the resonance signal of choline.

Keywords: Magnetic resonance spectroscopy; High-field imaging; Choline