Maxim Terekhov1, Kurt Reifenberg2, Alexander Scholz1, Stefan Weber1, Stefan Fischer1, Vasilyi Sen'3, Valery Golubev3, Thomas Mnzel4, Andrei L. Kleschyov4, Laura Maria Schreiber1
1Section of Medical Physics, Radiology Department, University Medical Center Mainz, Mainz, Germany; 2Central Animal House, University Medical Center Mainz, Mainz, Germany; 3. Institute of Problems of Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Chernogolovka, Russian Federation; 4II-Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Mainz, Mainz, Germany
Cyclic nitroxides (CNR) are stable free radicals with multiple applications in MRI. Heparin is known to have a high affinity for the vascular extracellular structures. We propose that CNR could be delivered to the vascular wall by means of heparin-polynitroxide (HPR) derivatives where the nitroxide is linked with the heparin macromolecule. The first in-vivo studies show that high molecular HPN exhibits the long-lasting in-vivo life time and bind irreversibly to the inner layer of vascular wall, where they can be visualized both by EPR and MR techniques.