Anisotropic diffusivity of creatine in rat hindleg muscles revealed by diffusion weighted proton MRS

Abstract

The cytosolic creatine pool and phosphorylctreatine shuttle of the high-energy phosphate transport have been proposed to have important roles in the high-energy demanding tissues. The diffusion characterization of creatine could be used as a probe to detect the subcellular structure and the metabolic changes. In this study we described the anisotropic diffusion character of the cytosolic creatine with two orthogonal diffusion directions. From the experience acquired from this study, we can look forward to see more possibility of using the diffusion characters of creatine or other metabolites to probe the subcellular structure and microenvironment dynamics.