Reducing the Impact of Anesthesia on Glucosamine Uptake in the Mouse Brain

Motivation: Anesthetic drugs vary in their capacity to interfere with homeostatic mechanisms responsible for glucose metabolism in the brain, thus pose a possible constraint in the study design. Goal(s): To evaluate the preferred anesthesia protocol for preclinical imaging of glucosamine metabolism in healthy mice brains. Approach: The effects of different anesthetics procedures on brain glucosamine metabolism were investigated using the CEST MRI method. Results: Mice injected with glucosamine and anesthetized with 1.5% isoflurane exhibited a low and insignificant increase in MTRasym signals in the cortex, whereas mice given 0.8% isoflurane combined with midazolam demonstrated a significant increase in MTRasym signals in the cortex. Impact: Combining low levels of isoflurane with midazolam anesthesia, enables increased glucosamine CEST MRI signal, indicating enhanced glucosamine uptake through the BBB. These findings offer valuable insights for optimizing glucosamine metabolic imaging, which can be extended to other glucose analogs.