The blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) effect of in-vitro myoglobin and hemoglobin

Abstract The presence of deoxygenated hemoglobin (Hb) results in a drop in T2 and T2* in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), known as the blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD-)effect. The purpose of this study was to investigate if deoxygenated myoglobin (Mb) exerts a BOLD-like effect. Equine Met-Mb powder was dissolved and converted to oxygenated Mb. T1, T2, T2*-maps and BOLD-bSSFP images at 3Tesla were used to scan 22 Mb samples and 12 Hb samples at room air, deoxygenation, reoxygenation and after chemical reduction. In Mb, T2 and T2* mapping showed a significant decrease after deoxygenation (− 25% and − 12%, p