Abstract #2625

In Vivo Evaluation of Exocytic Activity in Kupffer Cells Using Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging; an Experimental Study on Gadolinium Chloride-Induced Liver Injury in Rats.

Toshihiro Furuta^1,2, Masayuki Yamaguchi¹, Ryutaro Nakagami^1,3, Akira Hirayama^1,4, Masaaki Akahane², Manabu Minami⁵, Kuni Ohtomo², Hirofumi Fujii¹

¹Functional Imaging Division, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan; ²The University of Tokyo Hospital, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan; ³Graduate School of Human Health Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Arakawa, Tokyo, Japan; ⁴GE Healthcare Japan, Hino, Tokyo, Japan; ⁵Tsukuba University Hospital, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

Hepatic signal recovery on MR images after a single dose of superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) would be well correlated with exocytic activity of Kupffer cells (KCs). In this study, we actually showed the delay of hepatic signal recovery after SPIO administration depending on the severity of KCs' injury in an animal model, in which rat KCs were injured by intravenous administration of gadolinium chloride in a dose-dependent manner. We believe that at least two-week follow up MR imaging scans after SPIO administration are useful for the evaluation of not only phagocytic but also exocytic activities of KCs.