Hirotada G. Fujii1, Katsuya Kawanishi2, kouichi Itoh3
1Sapporo Medical University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan; 2Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, Ishikari, Hokkaido, Japan; 3Tokushima Bunri University, Sanuki, Kagawa, Japan
Overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and decreased antioxidant defense system may contribute to numerous brain disorders. Non-invasive evaluation and visualization of oxidative stress is important to elucidate the role of ROS in brain diseases. The purpose of this study was to examine the ability of paramagnetic nitroxide compounds with different lipophilicities as a redox-mapping tool in MRI of brain disease animal models. The results clearly show that nitroxide contrast agents can be used not only as redox-sensitive T1 contrast agents but also as site-specific ones, and that taking redox-mapping MR images is feasible with nitroxide contrast agents.