Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) both detect signals from atomic nuclei and can be performed together in conventional clinical MRI scanners. MRI provides the anatomical information, after which MRS scanning can provide biochemical information on the constituents within a region of interest. MRS has been used in clinical settings to study metabolic changes within breast and prostate tumors, as well as changes in small molecules in the brain associated with seizures, stroke, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s disease. This technology has not yet been extended to the analysis of pancreatic small molecules in healthy and diabetic states. As an initial step in this direction, we request nPOD human pancreatic samples from healthy and T2D and T1D diabetic individuals in order to study them ex vivo by high-resolution MRS (HR-MRS). This will provide a new read-out of pancreatic small molecule constituents in healthy versus diabetic states. The results will provide insights into the disease processes and complement data gathered by other technologies. Importantly, the results will identify potential clinical MRS biomarkers of ß-cell health. Future clinical MRS studies can then focus on the candidate biomarkers using MRI pulse sequences or data editing programs that will enhance the signals from candidate biomarkers. Thus, our proposed studies will provide basic information on pancreatic constituents in health and disease states, and will lay the foundation for developing MRS as a noninvasive tool to monitor ß-cell health in the clinic.
