Jihong Sun1,2, Weiliang Zheng1,
Hong Yuan3, Tao Wu1, Xiaoming Yang1,2,
Shizheng Zhang1
1Radiology, Zhejiang
University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, People's Republic
of; 2Radiology, University of Washington School of Medicine,
Seattle, WA, United States; 3College of Pharmaceutical Science,
Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, People's Republic of
The aim of this study was to develop a novel nanoparticle-based magnetic resonance (MR) colonography technique, which enabled us to generate contrast-enhanced MRI of the colonic walls via transrectal administration of colonic-absorbable, Gd-DTPA-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs). In vivo MRI demonstrated bright enhancement of colonic walls with decreased T1 relaxation times in all mice treated by transrectal infusions of Gd-SLNs, which was confirmed by subsequent histologic correlation. This study establishes the proofs-of-principle of a new imaging technique nanoparticle-based MR colonography.