Impurities of [1-13C]Pyruvic Acid and a Method to Minimize Their Signals for Hyperpolarized Pyruvate Metabolism Studies

Abstract

Impurities are a necessary evil when working with hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate for real-time metabolic studies. We show that the impurities’ spectrum persists throughout the detection window as these signals show a long T1. At the same time, the impurities’ spectrum is unpredictable and partly susceptible to minute pH changes in the microenvironment such that impurities’ signals may overlap with hyperpolarized metabolite signals. We show a method to eliminate the hyperpolarized impurities’ signals while maintaining sufficient hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate signal for metabolic studies.