A Study of [13C]Pyruvate as an Imaging Agent for Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Healthy Volunteers

Optimized In-Human [13C]Pyruvate MRI For Assessment Of Physiologic Reference Data In Different Organs

The purpose of the study is to learn about the use of [13C]pyruvate as an imaging agent for MRI scans. In past studies, researchers have seen that [13C]pyruvate can improve imaging with MRI scans. However, they would like to know more about how the imaging agent is distributed in healthy organs and tissues. This study will provide additional information about the use of [13C]pyruvate as an imaging agent for MRI scans, and it will show us how the substance is metabolized (changed into energy) in the organs and tissues of healthy volunteers. For (n=5) volunteers undergoing brain imaging we will compare the standard injection at 5mL/second with a slower infusion (0.1-1mL/second) to achieve a 60 second infusion time, to approach quasi steady-state metabolism and improve SNR.

Study Overview

• Status: Enrolling by invitation
• Conditions: Healthy Volunteers
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Hyperpolarized [13C] Pyruvate

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 50
• Phase: Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • New York, New York, United States, 10065
      • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 80 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Fifty healthy volunteers will be included.

• Age between 18-80
• Negative serum or urine pregnancy test for female volunteers of childbearing age and potential (as defined by MSKCC Standards & Guidelines), from assays obtained <2 weeks prior to study enrollment. Urine pregnancy tests are only valid for the day of test.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Breast-feeding
• History of metabolic (e.g. diabetes) and renal functional disorders.
• Refusal or inability to tolerate the scanning procedure (e.g., due to claustrophobia)
• Acute major illness (e.g., unstable cardiovascular condition, systemic malignant diseases, etc.).
• Standard MRI safety screening will be applied (MRI screening questionnaire); volunteers with MR unsafe devices, or conditional devices where research mode is not allowed, will be excluded.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Protocol optimization cohort; Following the [13C]pyruvate injection, dynamic imaging and 3D volumetric imaging of volunteers in the first cohort (HP MRI protocol optimization, Aim 1) will be performed on the 3-T MRI scanner, using different [13C] RF excitation/detection coils.	Drug: Hyperpolarized [13C] Pyruvate; Will be injected at a dosage of 0.43 ± 0.05 mL/kg body weight
Experimental: Tissue reference cohort; The optimal setup will then be used for HP MRI of the second cohort.	Drug: Hyperpolarized [13C] Pyruvate; Will be injected at a dosage of 0.43 ± 0.05 mL/kg body weight

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Signal-to-noise ratios	will be used to assess image quality, and to compare the different technical setups. The setup providing the highest SNR will be considered optimal.	1 day

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
• Collaborators: Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Vesselin Miloushev, MD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 1, 2021
• Primary Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 2, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 2, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): September 10, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 20, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 18, 2026
• Last Verified: February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: MRI; Hyperpolarized (HP) [13C] pyruvate; 21-309
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Organic Chemicals; Carboxylic Acids; Pyruvates; Keto Acids; Pyruvic Acid
• Other Study ID Numbers: 21-309

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center supports the international committee of medical journal editors (ICMJE) and the ethical obligation of responsible sharing of data from clinical trials. The protocol summary, a statistical summary, and informed consent form will be made available on clinicaltrials.gov when required as a condition of Federal awards, other agreements supporting the research and/or as otherwise required. Requests for deidentified individual participant data can be made beginning 12 months after publication and for up to 36 months post publication. Deidentified individual participant data reported in the manuscript will be shared under the terms of a Data Use Agreement and may only be used for approved proposals. Requests may be made to: crdatashare@mskcc.org.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: Yes
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No