Rongzuo Xu1, Xue-Ming Wu1, Eun-Kee Jeong2, Zheng-Rong Lu1
1Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA; 2Department of Radiology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Gadolinium based contrast agents have been reported to induce nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) in patients with impaired renal function. In this study, we investigated the cytotoxicty of Gd(III)-based contrast agents, including Omniscan, Mutihance and ProHance, to normal rat skin fibroblasts. We find that the gadolinium based contrast agents significantly decreased the cytotoxicity of Gd3+ ions to skin fibroblasts. The intracellular gadolinium deposit depended on contrast agent concentration. Those contrast agents also induce increasing of Ca2+ and decreasing of Zn2+ in intracellular compartments. The Gd3+ deposition and Ca2+ and Zn2+ imbalance could be related to long-term toxicity of gadolinium based contrast agents on skin fibroblast.