Water diffusion, T(2), and compartmentation in frog sciatic nerve

A potential relationship between structural compartments in neural tissue and NMR parameters may increase the specificity of MRI in diagnosing diseases. Nevertheless, our understanding of MR of nerves and white matter is limited, particularly the influence of various water compartments on the MR signal is not known. In this study, components of the (1)H transverse relaxation decay curve in frog peripheral nerve were correlated with the diffusion characteristics of the water in the nerve. Three T(2) values were identified with nerve. Water mobility was found to be unrestricted on the timescale of 100 msec in the component of the signal with the intermediate T(2) time, suggesting some contribution from the interstitial space to this T(2) component. Restricted diffusion was observed in the component with the longest T(2) time, supporting the assignment of at least part of the spins contributing to this component to an intracellular compartment. The observed nonexponential behavior of the diffusion attenuation curves was investigated and shown to be potentially caused by the wide range of axon sizes in the nerve. Magn Reson Med 42:911-918, 1999.