Carbon-13 Hyperpolarization of α-Ketocarboxylates with Parahydrogen in Reversible Exchange.

Signal Amplification by Reversible Exchange (SABRE) is a relatively simple and fast hyperpolarization technique that has been used to hyperpolarize the α-ketocarboxylate pyruvate, a central metabolite and the leading hyperpolarized MRI contrast agent. In this work, we show that SABRE can readily be extended to hyperpolarize C nuclei at natural abundance on many other α-ketocarboxylates. Hyperpolarization is observed and optimized on pyruvate (P=17 %) and 2-oxobutyrate (P=25 %) with alkyl chains in the R-group, oxaloacetate (P=11 %) and alpha-ketoglutarate (P=13 %) with carboxylate moieties in the R group, and phenylpyruvate (P=2 %) and phenylglyoxylate (P=2 %) with phenyl rings in the R-group.

Facile hyperpolarization chemistry for molecular imaging and metabolic tracking of [1-C]pyruvate in vivo.

Hyperpolarization chemistry based on reversible exchange of parahydrogen, also known as Signal Amplification By Reversible Exchange (SABRE), is a particularly simple approach to attain high levels of nuclear spin hyperpolarization, which can enhance NMR and MRI signals by many orders of magnitude. SABRE has received significant attention in the scientific community since its inception because of its relative experimental simplicity and its broad applicability to a wide range of molecules, however in vivo detection of molecular probes hyperpolarized by SABRE has remained elusive. Here we describe a first demonstration of SABRE-hyperpolarized contrast detected in vivo, specifically using hyperpolarized [1-C]pyruvate.

Bloodstream infection with extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae at a tertiary care hospital in New Zealand: risk factors and outcomes.

Objectives: To define local risk factors and outcomes for bacteremia with extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-E) at a tertiary hospital in New Zealand.

Methods: Patients with ESBL-E bacteremia were compared to matched control patients with non-ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae bacteremia. Patients were matched by onset of bacteremia (community vs.

A case of tricuspid valve endocarditis due to Burkholderia cepacia complex.

Burkholderia cepacia complex organisms are environmental Gram-negative bacteria which rarely cause disease in otherwise immunocompetent individuals. We describe a case of tricuspid valve endocarditis secondary to B. cepacia complex in an injecting intravenous drug user in Auckland, New Zealand.

First case of Mycobacterium heckeshornense lymphadenitis.

Mycobacterium heckeshornense is a slow-growing nontuberculous mycobacterium first characterized in 2000. It is reported to cause lung disease and tenosynovitis. We report a case of isolated massive axillary lymphadenopathy in an elderly woman, where histology showed necrotizing granulomata and M.

Community-onset genitourinary tract infection due to CTX-M-15-Producing Escherichia coli among travelers to the Indian subcontinent in New Zealand.

A series of patients are described who presented to a New Zealand hospital with genitourinary tract infection due to CTX-M-15-producing Escherichia coli. All had a history of travel to the Indian subcontinent and lacked traditional risk factors for urinary tract infection due to a multidrug-resistant organism.