Magnetic field dependence of ²³Na NMR spectra of rat skeletal muscle infused with shift reagent in Vivo

We obtained ²³Na NMR spectra of the gastrocnemius muscle in the living rat before and after infusing the animal with the shift reagent for cations, triethylenetetraminehexaacetate dysprosium (III) (DyTTHA^3-), at field strengths of 8.4, 4.7, and 1.5 T. When plotted on a ppm scale, sodium linewidths both with and without shift reagent showed little field dependence. Thus the spectra obtained in the presence of shift reagent showed almost no change in resolution as the field strength increased. Since the absolute line-widths increased with increasing B₀ our results also indicate that both the shifted and the unshifted sodium resonances are inhomogeneously broadened and that the observed linewidths are determined primarily by bulk magnetic susceptibility shifts. These results suggest that cation NMR in conjunction with shift reagent can be used to discriminate between intra- and extracellular sodium pools over a wide range of field strengths.