Intracerebral pH affects the T2 relaxation time of brain tissue

Signal changes in activated brain areas are detectable by MRI and MR spectroscopy (MRS). Shifts in pH occur during brain activation. Our aim was to investigate the relationship between changes in pH and T2 relaxation times. T2 was determined in vitro at 24 MHz in various liquids at different pH using a Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) spin-echo sequence. We also studied five Fisher rats were studied at 2.4 tesla with a double-tuneable surface coil. After baseline measurements, potassium cyanide was injected, producing intracerebral acidosis. Alternating series of 1H CPMG spin-echo sequences and 31P spectra were acquired. True T2 relaxation times were calculated from a CPMG multi-echo train. Changes in intracellular pH determined from 31P spectra. In vitro measurements demonstrated a correlation between T2 and pH that could be described by a quadratic fit curve. Depending on the initial pH, changes of 0.2 induced changes in T2 of up to 150 ms. In vivo measurements confirmed these findings. After intraperitoneal injection of a sublethal dose of cyanide, T2 decreased by about 5% in four cases, followed by recovery after 2 h. The in vitro measurements demonstrated that changes in pH can lead to significant signal change on T2- or T2*- weighted images. The dependence of T2 on pH in vitro was confirmed in vivo; it may contribute to signal change in activated brain areas.