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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2011 May 12.
Published in final edited form as: Chem Rev. 2010 May 12;110(5):3043–3059. doi: 10.1021/cr9004007

Table 1.

Nuclei commonly studied in order of sensitivity of detection and some of their preclinical (+) and clinical (*) applications in cancer. The intensity of the MR signal depends on the concentration of nuclear spins, and the gyromagnetic ratio γ of the spins. The detection limits of 1H and 19F MRS are typically within the mM range, with higher concentrations required for less-sensitive nuclei such as 31P and 13C.

Nucleus γ [MHz/T] Sensitivity of detection Applications
1H 42.58 graphic file with name nihms-195895-t0006.jpg

  • Total choline+*

  • Lactate+*

  • Lipid+*

  • N-acetyl-aspartate+

  • Citrate+

  • Extracellular pH (pHe)+

  • Treatment efficacy+*

  • Detection of metastasis+*

  • pO2+
19F 40.08

  • Drug pharmacokinetics+*

  • pHe+

  • pO2+

  • Enzyme activity+

  • Labeled substrate utilization+
31P 17.25

  • Energy metabolism (ATP, PCr, Pi)+*

  • Intracellular pH (pHi)+*

  • Phospholipid metabolism+*
13C 10.71

  • Labeled substrate utilization to evaluate drug pharmacokinetics and metabolic pathways+*