Postprocessing method to segregate and quantify the broad components underlying the phosphodiester spectral region of in vivo P-31 brain spectra

In a typical, in vivo P-31 brain spectrum, the phosphomonoester (PME) and p hosphodiester (PDE) spectral region not only contains signals from freely m obile PMEs and PDEs (which are anabolic and catabolic products of membrane phospholipids) but also signals of broader underlying lineshapes from less- mobile molecules. In general, either the PME and PDE resonances are quantif ied as a combined value of freely mobile metabolites plus less-mobile molec ules or the broader underlying signal is reduced/eliminated prior to or pos t data collection. In this study, a postprocessing method that segregates a nd quantifies the individual contributions of the freely mobile metabolites and the less-mobile molecules is introduced. To demonstrate the precision and accuracy of the method, simulated data and in vivo P-31 brain spectrosc opy data of healthy individuals were quantified. The ability to segregate a nd quantify these various PME and PDE contributions provides additional spe ctral information and improves the accuracy of the interpretation of P-31 s pectroscopy results. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.