Double resonance techniques such as INEPT (insensitive nuclei enhanced by polarization transfer) and JCP (J cross-polarization) have previously been applied in vitro to enhance the SNR of low-sensitivity nuclei and detect altered metabolism, for example, with 13C magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), where the 1H-13C scalar couplings are of the order of 130 Hz. The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential advantage of using JCP for the detection of phosphomonoesters (PME) and phosphodiesters (PDE) with 31P MRS in vivo. These metabolites are involved in membrane metabolism and their concentration is altered in tumors and other pathologies. JCP has been implemented and compared with INEPT and pulse-and-acquire in vivo both in unlocalized and in localized spectra in order to select the optimum method for in vivo applications for PME and PDE detection. The results suggest that JCP can give up to 20% more signal in the PME region and up to 70% more signal in the PDE region, with 20 to 70% lower power deposition than INEPT. Such enhancement could be used to reduce the measurement times for equivalent signal-to-noise ratios. The JCP sequence is, however, slightly more sensitive than INEPT to RF field inhomogeneities, as predicted from theory.
(c) 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.