Purpose: In the current study, we investigated hyperpolarized urea as a possible imaging biomarker of the renal function by means of the intrarenal osmolality gradient.
Methods: Hyperpolarized three-dimensional balanced steady state 13 C MRI experiments alongside kidney function parameters and quantitative polymerase chain reaction measurements was performed on two groups of rats, a streptozotocin type 1 diabetic group and a healthy control group.
Results: A significant decline in intrarenal steepness of the urea gradient was found after 4 weeks of untreated insulinopenic diabetes in agreement with an increased urea transport transcription.
Conclusion: MRI and hyperpolarized [13 C,15 N]urea can monitor the changes in the corticomedullary urea concentration gradients in diabetic and healthy control rats. Magn Reson Med 77:1650-1655, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
Keywords: MRI; Type 1 diabetes; hyperpolarization; kidney; renal function.
© 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.