Spectroscopy

1H-Spectroscopy allows the quantification of brain metabolites such as N-acetyl-aspatate, choline, creatine or lactate in-vivo. Many diseases such as demylination, inflammation or tumor show a similar pattern with a decrease in N-acetyl-aspartate and an increase in creatine. Recently the oncometabolite 2-hydroxy-glutarate (2-HG) was identified as the product of mutations in the IDH1 and IDH2 gene, which plays a crucial role in the prognosis of gliomas. Previous work in the department in collaboration with the High field MR centre at the MPI for biologic kybernetic proved that the identification of 2-HG is possible with spectroscopy in glioma patients at 9.4 Tesla.

Goal of the current work in a close collaboration with the High field MR centre at the MPI for biologic kybernetic is the development of sequences that allow a clear detection of 2-HG at clinical field strengths and to test if 2-HG can be used as a parameter of treatment response in patients with primary radiation.

Further research efforts are currentl y to identify other potential clinical relevant metabolites in tumors such as glycin or lactate and to evaluate treatment effects of bone marrow transplantation in children with MLD or ALD (collaboration with the childrens hospital) and the development of 31P-spectroscopy for high-resolution imaging of the energy metabolism at 9.4 T.