A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Feasibility of multimodal metabolic analysis for detecting early changes in acute neuroinflammation; 
Authors: Grist, James T.; Evstafev, Ilia; Olesova, Dominika; Nynäs, Signe E.; Orešič, Matej; Dickens, Alex M.; Tyler, Damian J.; Couch, Yvonne
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Publication year: 2026
Journal: Journal of Neuroinflammation
Article number: 228
Volume: 23
eISSN: 1742-2094
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12974-026-03839-7
Publication's open availability at the time of reporting: Open Access
Publication channel's open availability : Open Access publication channel
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12974-026-03839-7
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/523174670
Self-archived copy's licence: CC BY
Self-archived copy's version: Publisher`s PDF
Given the prevalence of metabolic perturbations in a variety of neurological and neurodegenerative diseases, understanding and monitoring brain metabolism is a key step in our advancement of therapies. The details of the citric acid cycle were established at the beginning of the last century but only recently have its metabolic intermediates been observed in vivo in the brain. In this study, we employed orthogonal analyses to investigate metabolic alterations in response to acute neuroinflammation in vivo, demonstrating a multi-technique approach that could be used for future studies.Hyperpolarized [1-13C] pyruvate spectroscopy revealed an early decline in pyruvate metabolism via pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH), leading to reduced 13C-bicarbonate formation. This metabolic disruption occurred despite the absence of structural or perfusion changes on conventional MRI. Further analysis of polar metabolites in the ipsilateral hemisphere confirmed ongoing inflammatory processes. These findings highlight the potential of this dual technique approach to inform upon metabolic changes due to neuroinflammation.Combining methods to probe metabolism in invasive (metabolomics) and non-invasive (hyperpolarized MRI) manners, this represents a promising translational approach for real-time metabolic assessments in an area of the body, the brain, where studying processes such as metabolism has traditionally been challenging. This study has demonstrated the approach to monitor changes in metabolism in response to inflammation in the brain.
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Funding information in the publication:
JTG was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Oxford Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) and the UK Medical Research Council. I.E. was funded through the Turku Doctoral Program for Drug Devlopment and Diagnostics. DJT was funded by a British Heart Foundation Senior Basic Science Research Fellowship (FS/19/18/34252) and a British Heart Foundation Programme Grant (RG/F/21/110035). MO was funded by a Research Council of Finland project grant (33398) and the InFLAMES Flagship Programme of the Academy of Finland (337530). AMD & DO were been funded by the Sigrid Jusélius Foundation and the Research Council of Finland (347924). YC was funded by an Alzheimer’s Research UK Thames Valley Network (ARV01962) and by the Oxford British Heart Foundation Centre of Research Excellence (RE/18/3/34214).
