Evaluation of exercise muscle energetics by NMR

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is superior to ultrasonography and X-CT especially in density resolution in soft tissue. 31P NMR provides information on metabolism, which has not been obtained in vivo by conventional methods, such as phosphocreatine (PCr), inorganic phosphate (Pi), ATP, and intracellular pH. We used MRI and 31P NMR spectroscopy to study skeletal muscle metabolism of human and rat. These NMR results suggested that 1) estimation of muscle fiber composition, 2) evaluation of muscle ATP turnover and 3) imaging of local muscle fatigue are possible.