Abstract
ObjectiveTo estimate pancreas graft relaxation times and concentrations of total fat, and the intracellular lipids of non-adipose pancreatic cells (NAPC) using proton (1H) magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) during cold preservation.Materials and methodsGrafts from 11 human donors were investigated. Each pancreas was perfused in situ with histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate (HTK) or with University of Wisconsin solution and placed into a transport container. Temperature of the grafts was maintained at 4 ± 2 °C during transport to our hospital and MR scanning. A 1.5 T clinical scanner was used for the measurements. Single-voxel PRESS spectra were acquired using transmit–receiver head coil.ResultsRelaxation times were measured for lipid (–CH2–)n (T1, 287 ± 60 ms; T2, 27 ± 4 ms), and tissue water (T1, 670 ± 69 ms; T2, 77 ± 17 ms). Average total fat, and intracellular lipids of NAPC concentrations were 79.2 ± 100.8 (range 2.4–304.4), and 2.9 ± 1.2 mmol/kg ww, respectively.ConclusionWe have shown that 1H-MRS is a useful tool for the estimation of pancreas graft lipid concentrations. Total pancreatic fat and especially content of intracellular lipids of NAPC are valuable measures for inspection of graft quality prior to transplantation or islet of Langerhans isolation.
Highlights
The pancreas plays an important role in the synthesis and secretion of digestive enzymes and metabolism-regulating hormones
2% of the pancreas mass consists of different hormone-producing endocrine cells which clump together into small clusters called islets of Langerhans
Ten pancreas grafts were perfused in situ with histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate (HTK) solution and one graft was perfused with University of Wisconsin (UW) solution
Summary
The pancreas plays an important role in the synthesis and secretion of digestive enzymes and metabolism-regulating hormones. Pancreas or islets transplantation is currently the only treatment that restores normal glucose metabolism in insulin-dependent patients [3, 4]. The ideal donor developed brain death as a result of trauma, ranges in age from 10 to 40 years and has a body mass index (BMI) less than 27.5 kg/m2 [5] Such strict donor selection has resulted in outstanding graft survival and in underutilization of pancreas donors [6]. The use of less-than-ideal donors requires methods for an objective assessment of pancreas graft quality. Some overweight donors may have little or no fatty infiltration of the pancreas, while some donors with normal BMI may have increased fat content [5, 10, 14]. We evaluated the relationship between pancreatic total fat content and donor’s BMI
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