The presence of 14N nucleus in the scalar coupling network results in a 3-fold decrease of 15N T1 and polarization values for all 15N sites in 15N2-metronidazole versus15N3-metronidazole in SABRE hyperpolarization in microtesla fields.

Nimorazole belongs to the imidazole‐based family of antibiotics to fight against anaerobic bacteria. Moreover, nimorazole is now in Phase 3 clinical trial in Europe for potential use as a hypoxia radiosensitizer for treatment of head and neck cancers. We envision the use of [15N3]nimorazole as a theragnostic hypoxia contrast agent that can be potentially deployed in the next‐generation MRI‐LINAC systems. Herein, we report the first steps to create long‐lasting (for tens of minutes) hyperpolarized state on three 15N sites of [15N3]nimorazole with T1 of up to ca. 6 minutes. The nuclear spin polarization was boosted by ca. 67000‐fold at 1.4 T (corresponding to P15N of 3.2 %) by 15N−15N spin‐relayed SABRE‐SHEATH hyperpolarization technique, relying on simultaneous exchange of [15N3]nimorazole and parahydrogen on polarization transfer Ir‐IMes catalyst. The presented results pave the way to efficient spin‐relayed SABRE‐SHEATH hyperpolarization of a wide range of imidazole‐based antibiotics and chemotherapeutics.

Current metabolic imaging in humans is dominated by positron emission tomography (PET) methods. An emerging non-ionizing alternative for molecular imaging is hyperpolarized MRI. In particular, imaging of hyperpolarized 13 C-pyruvate is a leading candidate because pyruvate is innocuous and has a central role in metabolism. However, similar to PET, hyperpolarized MRI with dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) is complex, costly and requires complex infrastructure. In contrast, signal amplification by reversible exchange (SABRE) is a fast, cheap, and scalable hyperpolarization technique. In particular, SABRE in SHield Enables Alignment Transfer to Heteronuclei (SABRE-SHEATH) transfers polarization from parahydrogen to 13 C in pyruvate, however, to date, SABRE-SHEATH of 13 C-pyruvate was limited in polarization levels relative to DNP (1.7% with SABRE-SHEATH vs. ~60% with DNP). Here we introduce a temperature cycling method for SABRE-SHEATH that enables >10% polarization on [1-13 C]pyruvate, sufficient for successful in vivo experiments. First, at lower temperatures, ~20% polarization is accumulated on SABRE-catalyst bound pyruvate, which is subsequently released into free pyruvate in solution at elevated temperatures. We take advantage of the achieved polarization to demonstrate first 13 C pyruvate images with a cryogen-free MRI system operated at 1 T. This illustrates that inexpensive hyperpolarization methods can be combined with low-cost MRI systems to obtain a broadly available, yet highly sensitive metabolic imaging platform.

Signal Amplification By Reversible Exchange in SHield Enabled Alignment Transfer (SABRE‐SHEATH) is investigated to achieve rapid hyperpolarization of 13C1 spins of [1‐13C]pyruvate, using parahydrogen as the source of nuclear spin order. Pyruvate exchange with an iridium polarization transfer complex can be modulated via a sensitive interplay between temperature and co‐ligation of DMSO and H2O. Order‐unity 13C (>50 %) polarization of catalyst‐bound [1‐13C]pyruvate is achieved in less than 30 s by restricting the chemical exchange of [1‐13C]pyruvate at lower temperatures. On the catalyst bound pyruvate, 39 % polarization is measured using a 1.4 T NMR spectrometer, and extrapolated to >50 % at the end of build‐up in situ. The highest measured polarization of a 30‐mM pyruvate sample, including free and bound pyruvate is 13 % when using 20 mM DMSO and 0.5 M water in CD3OD. Efficient 13C polarization is also enabled by favorable relaxation dynamics in sub‐microtesla magnetic fields, as indicated by fast polarization buildup rates compared to the T1 spin‐relaxation rates (e. g., ∼0.2 s−1 versus ∼0.1 s−1, respectively, for a 6 mM catalyst‐[1‐13C]pyruvate sample). Finally, the catalyst‐bound hyperpolarized [1‐13C]pyruvate can be released rapidly by cycling the temperature and/or by optimizing the amount of water, paving the way to future biomedical applications of hyperpolarized [1‐13C]pyruvate produced via comparatively fast and simple SABRE‐SHEATH‐based approaches.

Anisomeles indica (L.) kuntze is widely used in folk medicine against various disorders including allergy, sores, inflammation, and fever. This research investigated the antinociceptive, anxiolytic and sedative effects of A. indica methanol extract. The antinociceptive activity was assessed with the acetic acid-induced writhing test and formalin-induced flicking test while sedative effects with open field and hole cross tests and anxiolytic effects with elevated plus maze (EPM) and thiopental-induced sleeping time tests were assayed. Computer aided (pass prediction, docking) analyses were undertaken to find out the best-fit phytoconstituent of total 14 isolated compounds of this plant for aforesaid effects. Acetic acid treated mice taking different concentrations of extract (50, 100, and 200 mg/kg, intraperitoneal) displayed reduced the writhing number. In the formalin-induced test, extract minimized the paw licking time of mice during the first phase and the second phase significantly. The open field and hole-cross tests were noticed with a dose-dependent reduction of locomotor activity. The EPM test demonstrated an increase of time spent percentage in open arms. Methanol extract potentiated the effect of thiopental-induced hypnosis in lesser extent comparing with Diazepam. The results may account for the use of A. indica as an alternative treatment of antinociception and neuropharmacological abnormalities with further intensive studies. The compound, 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid was found to be most effective in computer aided models.

Among the hyperpolarization techniques geared toward in vivo magnetic resonance imaging, parahydrogen-induced polarization (PHIP) shows promise due to its low cost and fast speed of contrast agent preparation. The synthesis of 13 C-labeled, unsaturated precursors to perform PHIP by side arm hydrogenation has recently opened new possibilities for metabolic imaging owing to the biological compatibility of the reaction products, although the polarization transfer between the parahydrogen-derived protons and the 13 C heteronucleus must yet to be better understood, characterized, and eventually optimized. In this realm, a new experimental strategy incorporating pulse-programmable magnetic field cycling has been developed. The approach is evaluated by measuring the 13 C polarization of ethyl acetate-1-13 C, i.e. the product of pairwise addition of parahydrogen to vinyl acetate-1-13 C, resulting from zero-crossing magnetic field sweeps of various durations, amplitudes, and step sizes. The results demonstrate (i) the profound effect these parameters have on the 1 H to 13 C polarization transfer efficiency and (ii) the high reproducibility of the technique.

Piper sylvaticum Roxb. is traditionally used by the indigenous people of tropical and subtropical countries like Bangladesh, India, and China for relieving the common cold or a variety of chronic diseases, such as asthma, chronic coughing, piles, rheumatic pain, headaches, wounds, tuberculosis, indigestion, and dyspepsia. This study tested anxiolytic and antioxidant activities by in vivo, in vitro, and in silico experiments for the metabolites extracted (methanol) from the leaves and stems of P. sylvaticum (MEPSL and MEPSS). During the anxiolytic evaluation analyzed by elevated plus maze and hole board tests, MEPSL and MEPSS (200 and 400 mg/kg, body weight) exhibited a significant and dose-dependent reduction of anxiety-like behavior in mice. Similarly, mice treated with MEPSL and MEPSS demonstrated dose-dependent increases in locomotion and CNS simulative effects in open field test. In addition, both extracts (MEPSL and MEPSS) also showed moderate antioxidant activities in DPPH scavenging and ferric reducing power assays compared to the standard, ascorbic acid. In parallel, previously isolated bioactive compounds from this plant were documented and subjected to a molecular docking study to correlate them with the pharmacological outcomes. The selected four major phytocompounds displayed favorable binding affinities to potassium channel and xanthine oxidoreductase enzyme targets in molecular docking experiments. Overall, P. sylvaticum is bioactive, as is evident through experimental and computational analysis. Further experiments are necessary to evaluate purified novel compounds for the clinical evaluation.

Signal Amplification by Reversible Exchange (SABRE) technique enables nuclear spin hyperpolarization of wide range of compounds using parahydrogen. Here we present the synthetic approach to prepare 15N‐labeled [15N]dalfampridine (4‐amino[15N]pyridine) utilized as a drug to reduce the symptoms of multiple sclerosis. The synthesized compound was hyperpolarized using SABRE at microtesla magnetic fields (SABRE‐SHEATH technique) with up to 2.0 % 15N polarization. The 7‐hour‐long activation of SABRE pre‐catalyst [Ir(IMes)(COD)Cl] in the presence of [15N]dalfampridine can be remedied by the use of pyridine co‐ligand for catalyst activation while retaining the 15N polarization levels of [15N]dalfampridine. The effects of experimental conditions such as polarization transfer magnetic field, temperature, concentration, parahydrogen flow rate and pressure on 15N polarization levels of free and equatorial catalyst‐bound [15N]dalfampridine were investigated. Moreover, we studied 15N polarization build‐up and decay at magnetic field of less than 0.04 μT as well as 15N polarization decay at the Earth's magnetic field and at 1.4 T.