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Biochemical Titration of Glycogen In vitro
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Revisiting Glycogen Content in the Human Brain.

Gülin Öz1, Mauro DiNuzzo2, Anjali Kumar3

  • 1Department of Radiology, Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, University of Minnesota, 2021 6th St. S.E., Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA. gulin@cmrr.umn.edu.

Neurochemical Research
|July 24, 2015
PubMed
Summary

Human brain glycogen stores are significantly higher than previously estimated. This study found brain glycogen content to be 7.8 µmol/g using advanced magnetic resonance spectroscopy techniques.

Keywords:
13C magnetic resonance spectroscopyGlycogenHuman brainMathematical modeling

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Biochemistry
  • Medical Imaging

Background:

  • Brain glycogen serves as a crucial glucose reserve, with higher concentrations than free glucose.
  • Previous human studies using (13)C magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) estimated brain glycogen at 3-4 µmol/g.
  • Rodent brain glycogen levels are known to be higher than those reported in humans.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To accurately quantify human brain glycogen concentration by achieving steady-state labeling.
  • To overcome limitations of slow glycogen turnover in previous human studies.
  • To refine estimates of brain's glucose storage capacity.

Main Methods:

  • Administered [1-(13)C]glucose to healthy volunteers for 80 hours under euglycemic conditions.
  • Utilized in vivo (13)C MRS to measure (13)C-glycogen levels in the occipital lobe every 12 hours.
  • Applied a biophysical model incorporating blood glucose and isotopic enrichment for data fitting.

Main Results:

  • Achieved excellent fits of the biophysical model to the (13)C-glycogen data.
  • Determined human brain glycogen content to be 7.8 ± 0.3 µmol/g.
  • This value is substantially higher than previously reported estimates.

Conclusions:

  • Human brain glycogen concentration is significantly underestimated by prior studies.
  • The refined measurement provides a more accurate understanding of brain glucose reserves.
  • This finding has implications for understanding brain metabolism and energy homeostasis.