Chemical shift imaging of human colorectal tissue (ex vivo)

The spatial location of MR visible lipid in the wall of the normal human colon, and in carcinomatous colonic tissue has been documented using proton chemical shift imaging, one- and two-dimensional magnetic resonance spectroscopy and histochemical staining. Following dissection of the mucosal and submucosal layers of normal colon, these techniques showed high levels of neutral lipid distributed in the submucosal layer. Relatively less lipid was observed in the mucosal layer. Histochemical staining confirmed that the majority of the neutral lipid was in the submucosa, extracellular, and in the lymphatic channels. Carcinomatous tissue gave a variable lipid signal which histochemical staining identified as being from tumour stroma, necrotic and degenerate tumour cells and macrophages.