In vivo MRS measurement of deoxymyoglobin in human forearms

In vivo MRS measurement of deoxymyoglobin (deoxy‐Mb) in human forearms was performed by observing the N‐δ proton of F8 proximal histidine. The concentration of deoxy‐Mb reflects the oxygen level in the muscle. In resting muscles, the deoxy‐Mb level was below the detection sensitivity. When ischemia was introduced by arterial occlusion, the time‐resolved NMR spectra (with 1 min resolution) was recorded to follow the change in the deoxy‐Mb signal. The result shows that deoxy‐Mb signal builds up and levels off within 6 min. This technique may be used to study bioenergetics of muscle during exercise and under pathological conditions. © 1990 Academic Press, Inc.