Glycerophosphocholine and Glycerophosphoethanolamine Are Not the Main Sources of the In Vivo (31)P MRS Phosphodiester Signals from Healthy Fibroglandular Breast Tissue at 7 T

Wybe J M van der Kemp; Bertine L Stehouwer; Jurgen H Runge; Jannie P Wijnen; Aart J Nederveen; Peter R Luijten; Dennis W J Klomp

doi:10.3389/fonc.2016.00029

Glycerophosphocholine and Glycerophosphoethanolamine Are Not the Main Sources of the In Vivo (31)P MRS Phosphodiester Signals from Healthy Fibroglandular Breast Tissue at 7 T

Front Oncol. 2016 Feb 15:6:29. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2016.00029. eCollection 2016.

Authors

Wybe J M van der Kemp¹, Bertine L Stehouwer¹, Jurgen H Runge², Jannie P Wijnen¹, Aart J Nederveen², Peter R Luijten¹, Dennis W J Klomp¹

Affiliations

¹ Radiology, University Medical Center Utrecht , Utrecht , Netherlands.
² Radiology, Academic Medical Center , Amsterdam , Netherlands.

Abstract

Purpose: The identification of the phosphodiester (PDE) (31)P MR signals in the healthy human breast at ultra-high field.

Methods: In vivo (31)P MRS measurements at 7 T of the PDE signals in the breast were performed investigating the chemical shifts, the transverse- and the longitudinal relaxation times. Chemical shifts and transverse relaxation times were compared with non-ambiguous PDE signals from the liver.

Results: The chemical shifts of the PDE signals are shifted -0.5 ppm with respect to glycerophosphocholine (GPC) and glycerophosphoethanolamine (GPE), and the transverse and longitudinal relaxation times for these signals are a factor 3 to 4 shorter than expected for aqueous GPC and GPE.

Conclusion: The available experimental evidence suggests that GPC and GPE are not the main source of the PDE signals measured in fibroglandular breast tissue at 7 T. These signals may predominantly originate from mobile phospholipids.

Keywords: 31P; 7 T; MRSI; breast; phosphodiester; phospholipids; relaxation time.